Very frustrating MSN connecting problem

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I have been searching and trying out all sorts of things for the past 13 hours, and i am still unable to solve this.

OS: Windows XP Professional

Problem: This problem happened last week. Normal internet browsing is fine in all cases.

I'm unable to log in to MSN (vital for school) and unable to go on game private servers (no problem on retail servers). Also, one funny thing i noticed is that when i am unable to go online on MSN, i notice that my torrent client starts to fail in downloading a BF2 Mod. When i am able to go on MSN (which is rarely), my torrent client is able to download at optimal speeds. Then my MSN disconnects and my torrent client is no longer able to download. I changed from Azureus to uTorrent and my downloading is no longer linked with MSN, so my torrent speeds is back to normal. I decided to include this problem because i think it would be relevant.
Now my main problem is trying to get on MSN, which i need in school. I tried using Gaim or Trillian and they too cannot login. Web based messengers work fine.

To summarize, my main problem is that i cannot login to MSN, or to enter into online game private servers. I think both are related, so i included this private server part, and the torrent thing also.

The msn error number is 81000306. And i have tried solutions related to this like
-flushing the dns cache
-doing the regsvr32 Softpub.dll ~~~~ solution
-MSN's repair (everything is fine, but i decided to try repair anyway)
-Deleting the subkey "Shared" in the registry for Windows Live Messenger

None of this worked.

So i went on to do a virus scan. I scanned with Nod32 and no viruses were found. Then i did an antispyware scan with Counterspy and Spyware Doctor. All they found were cookies.

Next, i used online scanners like Bitdefender, F-secure, McAfee and Panda (which i ditched when i found out they won't remove viruses). Viruses were found and removed, but it still didn't work. I can't use Housecall by TrendMicro because of some error.

Called my ISP technical support, and they said they can't help.

Then i removed Zonealarm Pro Firewall as my last method. Still not solved. Right now im sticking with Windows Firewall till this is fixed.

I also tried changing the MTU according to instructions from some site. Didn't work. Its now back to the default of 1492.

Is there a solution to this? I really need help, please! I don't use a router.
 
I'm not sure if this'll help or not. But I remember recieving that error code quite a few times in the past couple of days when trying to connect to msn. I rang my ISP and according to them it has something to do with a faulty line connection.

I'm not sure how it's fixed, as I'm still waiting on my ISP to get a technician out here. Been a few weeks now, so one or two more phone calls should make them fed up and send one out here.

Anyway, if I'm right and it is the same error code, you might want to hassle your ISP a little more. Most internet problems, in my case, are usually the fault of my ISP so..

Sorry if it's not very helpful.
 
Thanks for your reply. It a problem with my computer i think. Because i have another computer with the same ISP (and same user) and it can logon to messenger. Of all the things i had to deal with, MSN has to be the most annoying one ever..
 
Well thats my solution blown up in my face then :D
I know you said in your first post that you did the whole regsvr32 Softpub.dll thing, was just wondering if you did all three runs, or just that one?
I'm bored so I looked up the error code and came across a page that has msn errors and how to fix em..

Just incase, heres the page that seemed to help 80% of the people that tried it.

http://msn-errors.blogspot.com/search/label/error code 81000306
 
Visited that link already. I even thanked the person who posted this and told the *****s to shut up :p. Yeah, i did all three runs. I'm so desperate for this to be fixed..
 
I dunno what to suggest then, short of throwing your computer out the window :).. though I don't really think it's quite that extreme at the moment.

Could maybe try reinstalling msn and whatever else is bugging out (if you can)

When I got the errors I messed with everything possible until eventually everything started working lol.. though I'm having problems now, it's not connected to that so..

I'm out of ideas.. maybe if someone else hasn't answered you when you've finally lost it, you could try maybe reinstalling windows.. that always seems to solve the problems I can't get help with.

Anyway, good luck. Hope you get it fixed.
 
Try taking the MTUs down to 1400
Try taking all the firewall(s) off pro tem
Use only one antivirus and antispyware product.
You mention a problem with Trend - is there a more general issue here that perhaps indicates a reinstall of XP is the best option?
 
Maybe try some alternative to the (awful) official MSN client? Pidgin, aMSN, Miranda IM, Trillian.. If they work, then you have a problem with software (MSN/Live Messenger). If they fail too, then you have a networking problem.
 
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