T410 - Cisco 64 Bit VPN Client takes 2 hours to run

[njbeachcool]

I am running 64 bit Windows enterprise on my T410. I have been trying to run the Cisco 64 Bit VPN Client (IPSEC) for over a month now. It is one of the strangest things I have seen. The program installs and will startup but interface takes almost two hours to load, each initialization step takes about 20 minutes. I eventually kill the process because the interface will not respond even after it is loaded. This is happening on all the T410 units we have but not the T510 units. I have tried installing a fresh-from-the-DVD Windows 64 Bit instance and it still happens and I have not installed anything else on it. I have tried playing with the thunking settings for the executable with no change in behavior. I reinstalled the Network Deterministic components to no avail. I have used Handles, process explorer, TCPView, and other utilities and cannot see any issues.

If anyone has any more tips on how to trap any info so I can tell what it does not like, that would be helpful.

Many thanks,

Kevin, CISSP

[kaede]

try to update your network driver. and turn off UAC. also run the client in administrator mode.

hope it works!!

[bdmclacken]

Try alternative VPN clients maybe? One tool is called Shrewsoft, which I tend to prefer myself. The other is VPNC Front End. I have only used them for x86 systems, but know they each have x64 support.

[comps]

Try alternative VPN clients maybe? One tool is called Shrewsoft, which I tend to prefer myself. The other is VPNC Front End. I have only used them for x86 systems, but know they each have x64 support.

The problem is most likely in the author's company policy, you can't simply use an incompatible VPN client to access company's Cisco VPN.

If it was that simple, I'd use OpenVPN all the time

[bdmclacken]

I used these because our company was using the Cisco VPN client, and these subbed in well enough to do the same job- they even imported the Cisco PCF file so I really didn't have to figure out much to make them work. Some time ago, Cisco didn't have a port for x64 for their client, and I was looking to change machines and go to x64 so that's why I originally hunted these down. They might work for someone else, or they may not, but they can work in place of the Cisco client. The Shrewsoft I actually like... it's pretty thin and connects fast, and I don't have all kinds of flakey connection problems like I used to with the Cisco client.

[njbeachcool]

Thank you for the suggestions. I disabled UAC and upgraded to the latest Intel Network Driver and T410s still have the same problem. I am going to begin using other IPSec apps as suggested.

Regards and thanks again,


Kevin

[njbeachcool]

Update: I started over and disabled the ICS service, the UAC, and removed all traces of the client. I installed Cisco 64 Bit Client version 5.0.07.0440 and it is now operating properly. I am going to see exactly what step(s) did the trick when I fix the other units.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and help.

Kevin