PC freezing randomly

Hello,

The previous versions of Networx had a severe bug causing random BSOD when you used the WFP driver. This was supposedly fixed with the latest version (Networx 5.3.3 64 Bits) but I am 99% sure that the software is still unstable. It now causes random freezes whether I use the TDI or WFP driver. The freeze can happen after 5 hours or 2 days of uptime, but the PC ends up freezing.

When the PC freezes, it's impossible to diagnose because I don't have a crash dump. But I can guaranty that as soon as I uninstalled Networx 5.3.3 64bits, my PC became stable gain! It can be up for 1 week or more without ever crashing of freezing.

So I am asking: do other people here get their PC to freeze randomly?

Thank you.
PS : Here is my configuration : Windows 7 Pro 64bits, 32Gb ram, 1Gb ethernet adapter, Networx 5.3.3 64Bits with TDI Driver enabled.

Well I guess it's possible, but unfortunately we can't fix it as these drivers are third-party.

You can however use WinPCap as a workaround if you need to ignore local traffic.

Thanks Andrew. I installed WinPCap and unchecked "Ignore LAN Traffic". I'll let you know how it goes (I really love Networx for it's great and discreet taskbar integration so I hope the bug gets fixed).

Did you do any changes to the TDI Driver from Networx 5.2.11 to 5.3.3 ? Because the older version was stable, it never froze on me. The freeze started when I installed 5.3.3. And of course the older version is no more available on your website. I think you should release an emergency update with a warning about the unstability of those drivers because freezes/BSOD can damage the harddrive if it happens during hd activity, especially background defragmentation, the user must be aware of that

Yes, we keep updating the drivers as we receive them from the guys at NetFilter SDK. Thing is, they release updates, fix bugs and at times introduce new bugs.

Network drivers are complicated, a small change might fix an issue with one group of users, but introduce another compatibility issue for others. It's by no means widespread as otherwise this forum would be full of complains.

I am sorry that the latest release broke it for you, and hope WinPCap will suffice for the time being.

Yes, we know you are trying your best and that those buggy 3rd party drivers are beyond your control. Though we cannot be sure that the problem is not so widespread because it's almost impossible for a normal user to know that Networx is faulty. When the PC crashes, there's no "Networx ceased functioning" screen like most software. We get a freeze or at best a BSOD mentioning "tcpip.sys" or "netio.sys". Not to mention that the crash is random, it can happen after 5 hours, 1 day, or 2 days (see this message I posted in 2013.

I've been using the WinPCap driver for 48 hours, and so far it seems to work OK. Thanks for your help

Hello, sorry to dig up this topic but I've just updated to Windows 10 and to Networx 7.1.2, and I have to bring to your attention that Networx freezes my computer randomly after 24 hours or so, like it did in 2013 and 2015. As soon as I uninstalled it, the freezing stopped. In the old days, the simplest solution was to try choosing the TDI driver rather than the WFP driver during NetWorx installation, but this option seems no more possible.

Thanks for your help.

A long time Networx user.

Thank you for your feedback. I apologize for the inconvenience caused and appreciate your loyalty as a long-time NetWorx user.

It's unfortunate that version 7.1.2 still freezes your computer. I guess it may be something specific to your hardware or other programs you have installed. The TDI driver option it no longer available because Microsoft is deprecating this technology and it's poorly supported in Windows 10.

May I instead recommend trying our product NetGenius as an alternative solution? NetGenius is based on a different driver and should be well compatible with Windows 10 and 11. It has a lot of similar functionality to NetWorx and may be able to meet your requirements.

If you are happy with NetGenius, please lets us know, and we will give you a free replacement licence for it, so you can use it instead of NetWorx.