When you wake a Windows Vista-based computer from sleep or from hibernation, a dial-up connection may appear to be still connected to the Internet even though the connection is not active. When this problem occurs, the Network Center correctly shows that the dial-up connection is inactive.

This problem may occur on some computers if you put the computer to sleep or into hibernation when the dial-up connection is still connected to the Internet, and then you wake the computer. In this scenario, the network icon in the notification area may indicate that the connection is active. However, the dial-up connection does not work.

This problem can occur in some hardware configurations if the computer uses an external modem or a PCMCIA modem for the dial-up connection.