Consider the following scenario:

• You have a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Vista SP2.
• The computer has multiple network adapters.
• Each network adapter is configured to use a static IP address.
• The TCP/IP Forwarding feature is enabled on this computer.

In this scenario, a Stop error occurs and the operating system automatically restarts. Then, you receive the following Stop error:

0×000000D1 DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Note: This problem typically occurs when you restart the computer or when third-party teaming software switches the active network adapter.

Consider the following scenario:

• Lots of IP addresses are assigned to one network adapter on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2).
• Only the primary IP address is used for outgoing traffic.

In this scenario, only the primary IP address should be registered on the DNS servers for outgoing communication purpose. However, all IP addresses are registered on the DNS servers.

The issue causes the following symptoms:

• The communication to the computer is blocked by a firewall. Because all IP addresses are registered on the DNS servers, all these IP addresses seem to be valid IP addresses that can be used to communicate with the computer. However, if only the primary IP address can pass through a firewall, communication that uses all other IP addresses is block by the firewall.
• A large amount of DNS registration traffic and a large amount of update traffic is generated. However, this traffic is unnecessary because these IP addresses are not used for outgoing traffic.

You have a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista. After thousands of IP addresses are bound to a network adapter, you encounter one or more of the following issues:

• CPU usage reaches 100 percent.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) cannot connect remotely to the affected computer.
• Terminal sessions that are connected to the affected computer have poor performance.

Further investigation indicates that these issues occur when an application calls one of the following functions:

• GetAdaptersAddresses
• GetAdaptersInfo

When you run an application that sends a Simple Network Management Protocol version 1 (SNMPv1) trap to an external SNMP manager by using the SnmpSendMsg function directly, the agent IP address is sent as “0.0.0.0″. If you use Microsoft Network Monitor to capture the packet, the AgentAddress in the Protocol Data Units (PDU) appears as “NULL”.

Note: This problem occurs on a Windows Server 2008-based computer or on a Windows Vista-based computer.

In the network work environment, an IP security (IPsec) rule is used to block traffic between a source address of “Any IP Address” to a destination address of “Any IP Address.” In this scenario, on a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008-based client computer, the Self-to-Self connection may be blocked if the connection uses an IPv4 address.

For example, if you use the ping.exe command to ping LocalHost or any IPv4 address that is assigned to the computer, the operation may fail.

This article describes how to properly configure your Windows Vista client computer to obtain an IPv6 address from a DHCP server using the netsh.exe tool. Keep reading →

If a Windows Vista-based Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client computer is restarted and if the DHCP Server service is not available, the client will not maintain a valid lease. Therefore, you cannot access some network resources.

In a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) network, you have a Windows Vista-based Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client computer. After this client computer receives a DHCPNACK packet, the computer incorrectly rejects the DHCPOFFER packet from the DHCP server. This DHCPOFFER packet contains a new IP address. The client computer does not accept the new IP address until two DHCPOFFER packets are exchanged between the server and the client. This behavior slightly delays the client computer when it obtains a new valid IP address.

After you resume a Windows Vista-based DHCP client computer from sleep or from hibernation, the computer may lose its IP address. This problem may occur if there is more than one network interface on the computer, such as a real network interface and a virtual private network (VPN) interface.

For example, consider the following scenario:

• On a Windows Vista-based DHCP client computer, you establish a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN connection to a remote VPN server.
• You disconnect the SSL VPN connection.
• You put the computer to sleep or into hibernation.
• You resume the computer from sleep or from hibernation.

In this scenario, the computer loses the IP address that was assigned to it by the DHCP server. Instead, an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, such as 169.254.0.1, is assigned to the client computer. Therefore, you cannot access some network resources.

Consider the following scenario:

• You are running a Windows Vista-based computer or a Windows Server 2008-based computer.
• The computer has multiple IP addresses.
• You run the gethostbyname function.

In this scenario, the gethostbyname function returns the IP addresses in numeric order. Therefore, the IP address that has the lowest number is returned first. You expect the primary IP address to be returned first.