proxy server settings won't change

[Rafael Oliveira]

I need help really badly. For some reason my proxy server settings turned on and would not change. I've read that some programs would automatically turn the proxy server but I do not have any that would. Can somebody please help.

 

[dheeraj007]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you very much for the information about the tool..

 

[FairwayKnight]

Also having this issue.
Had an adware infection. Did the usual what is proposed: ran adwcleaner, adware-removal-tool, malwarbytes, superspyware, MSE. Also had to clean up Firefox. Firefox proxysettings were OK, but there appeared to be a hidden add-on, so had to start FF in safe mode (add-ons disabled) and found the ah heck.

But then again. Still my dropbox would not sync: it lost the little green tick on the icon in the tray. And when I clicked on the icon it says:
'Connecting....' And it says this forever, so no connection. How can this be? And how to remediate? This can be overcome by setting the proxy settings to 'no proxy' in de dropbox settings.

If you're still reading this, thanks for bearing with me. This is how it relates to the IE proxy issue:

The dropbox proxy settings issue is probably caused by the proxy settings in IE (under Settings/Internet Options/Connections/LAN settings), which keep reverting back to having ticked the 'Use a proxy server' with also 'Bypass for local addresses' ticked. This looks harmless, but when you hit the Advanced settings button, in my case it shows some puzzling settings: proxy adress to use 127.0.0.1, but with excpetions for a few adresses (*origin.com;*ea.com;*akamaihd.net). Dont exactly know what that does or what risks it implies, but it sure does not look healthy.

And I cannot seem to be able to change remove this permanently. Every time I change it, after saving and opening these settings, the same situation is back.
Running IE in admin mode, doesnt do the trick. When running IE in Windows safe mode the changed IE settings do stick when in the safe mode, but once again back in normal Windows, the IE settings have reverted back.

A complete windows reinstall is always an option, but a humungous time consuming excercise, since I have to configure and reinstall everything. And I have a lot of personalizations and apps, really not something to take on lightly.

Any other options?

 

[FairwayKnight]

I tried some other options like editing the registry (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie11-iewindows8_1/lan-connection-settings-keep-changing-back-to/76a0f5d2-167f-41fa-bf40-1461b8c01642). But the moment I saved the changes, it was reverted back immediately.

So definitely there was a process doing this. But which one?
I used a tool 'UVK - Ultra Virus Killer', which is quite handy to switch between different views of services, processes, autoruns, etc.
Went into the services view, sorted the services on 'State' (just click on the header) and focused on the running ones. The names dont mean a lot and the explanations often dont give away what it is. So, google is your friend.

There was however one thing I noticed: there was a service running from my 'C\user\<login name>\appdata\local\' directory. And this was the only one, all others ran from more logical directories: Windows or Program Files main directories.
So this was the odd-one-out, also probably the reason why it could stay off the radar of the malware scanners and protectors.

The service was named 'processlocalsplGUI.exe' which would suggest it had to do something with the windows spooling processes. But then again, why such a process would run from that location was a bit of a give-away.

I tried to stop the service, but was not allowed to. Mmmmm. So I opened up the process view and there were actually two processes running from that location. I killed these processes, then disabled the service and than removed the directory they were in.

Then started IE and immediatly got the message that IE could not contact the internet since my proxy wasnt working. Yeah!! ).

I deleted the proxy settings and reverted back to check the autodectect and.... YES, finally, the changes stuck the way the're supposed to.

Then run the Autorun manager within UVK and threw out everything suspicious, which I should have done much earlier, of course, but also here: the judgment of what is right and what is bogus isn't straightforward to me. But hay, I'm not a pro, so give me some slack. BTW, this Autorun view also shows the things started by the Windows Task scheduler, which I totally forgat about: the Task Scheduler can also start processes at logon, so is always worth a look. Get rid of anything odd there too.

Now everything seem to be in order. Phew. Need some sleep now. Learned a lot past 12 hours...

 

[mikeincali]

Patricia your a GODDESS, just happened to me, I looked this up on the internet you nailed it! Went to microsoft website they had me tweak EVERYTHING for about an hour...smh

I need help really badly. For some reason my proxy server settings turned on and would not change. I've read that some programs would automatically turn the proxy server but I do not have any that would. Can somebody please help.

The answer is simpler than you might expect. It is not a virus, but a program that may have been downloaded that acted as the "administrator" and changed the proxy settings. Since your computer is not recognizing you as the "administrator," you simply have to tell it that you are and the Proxy settings will stay. Then your Internet Explorer or Chrome will work again.

I was going crazy with exactly the same issues as you and finally figured it out.

Explorer and Google use the same settings. So when you change one, the other responds as well. The easiest way to fix this is in Explorer, but it you don't have that, you can do the same thing by going to the Google Chrome icon, right click and open it with "Run as Administrator." Then do the same things I did below from Chrome Settings If you don't know where to find this, the bar just below the top bar has see 3 horizontal lines. Click with left button, down to settings, then go to Advanced Settings towards the bottom to CHANGE PROXY SETTINGS. This brings up the same Setting Box as in Internet Explorer. Then follow instructions on "D".

A. If you have Internet Explorer, go to your icon for Internet Explorer on the Start Menu. Click on your right right mouse button and on the drop down menu, open it with "Run as Administrator."

B,. When you do this, then a box opens and it asks if you want this program to make changes to your computer. Click Yes. Then it opens Explorer.

C. Go up to the menu (If you don't see one, then click on gray bar just under the dark blue Internet Explorer Bar with your right mouse and check menu). On the Menu bar, go to Tools and then at the drop down menu, click on Internet Options.

D. Then select the tab, Connections, then LAN settings and REMOVE THE CHECK from USE PROXY SERVER and now CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS. CLICK OK in LAN Setting Box and then OK in the final window. NOW IT WILL STAY since it now recognizes you as the Administrator.

All the best!

Patricia

 

[tahirc]

I need help really badly. For some reason my proxy server settings turned on and would not change. I've read that some programs would automatically turn the proxy server but I do not have any that would. Can somebody please help.

The answer is simpler than you might expect. It is not a virus, but a program that may have been downloaded that acted as the "administrator" and changed the proxy settings. Since your computer is not recognizing you as the "administrator," you simply have to tell it that you are and the Proxy settings will stay. Then your Internet Explorer or Chrome will work again.

I was going crazy with exactly the same issues as you and finally figured it out.

Explorer and Google use the same settings. So when you change one, the other responds as well. The easiest way to fix this is in Explorer, but it you don't have that, you can do the same thing by going to the Google Chrome icon, right click and open it with "Run as Administrator." Then do the same things I did below from Chrome Settings If you don't know where to find this, the bar just below the top bar has see 3 horizontal lines. Click with left button, down to settings, then go to Advanced Settings towards the bottom to CHANGE PROXY SETTINGS. This brings up the same Setting Box as in Internet Explorer. Then follow instructions on "D".

A. If you have Internet Explorer, go to your icon for Internet Explorer on the Start Menu. Click on your right right mouse button and on the drop down menu, open it with "Run as Administrator."

B,. When you do this, then a box opens and it asks if you want this program to make changes to your computer. Click Yes. Then it opens Explorer.

C. Go up to the menu (If you don't see one, then click on gray bar just under the dark blue Internet Explorer Bar with your right mouse and check menu). On the Menu bar, go to Tools and then at the drop down menu, click on Internet Options.

D. Then select the tab, Connections, then LAN settings and REMOVE THE CHECK from USE PROXY SERVER and now CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS. CLICK OK in LAN Setting Box and then OK in the final window. NOW IT WILL STAY since it now recognizes you as the Administrator.

All the best!

Patricia

 

[sn2015]

I have a similar problem of the proxy server setting keeps changing. I found if I change
reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser
to 1, the CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS will be check marked. However, the reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser will change back to 0 after reboot. Any hint why this is so?


ETA: After completely uninstall Chrome browser (including user data) and reinstall, the problem seems to be gone.

 

[rsv230183]

This worked for me http://www.grishbi.com/2015/02/ie-proxy-setting-keeps-changing/. Posting it here because none of the solution defined worked for me, and may help some one else. Most of the article are unable to find the root cause, however this one did.

I have a similar problem of the proxy server setting keeps changing. I found if I change
reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser
to 1, the CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS will be check marked. However, the reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser will change back to 0 after reboot. Any hint why this is so?


ETA: After completely uninstall Chrome browser (including user data) and reinstall, the problem seems to be gone.

 

[sn2015]

The problem seems to be back. As posted before, the reg key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser will change back to 0 after reboot. If the key is manually set to 1, the "automatically detect settings" will be checked and "user proxy server" will be unchecked. These settings are maintained until system is shutdown or reboot.

 

[johndoes]

This worked for me. Go to Run:

Type regedit

Then follow these steps:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings -> ProxySettingsPerUser

It was set to 0 (Disabled). I set it to 1 and that fixed the issue. It went to Automatically Dectect Settings right after that.

 

[johndoes]

Hmmmm.....after a few shutdowns it worked. After a reboot it stopped working.

 

[sn2015]

Hmmmm.....after a few shutdowns it worked. After a reboot it stopped working.

Stopped working means ProxySettingsPerUser reset back to 0?

 

[Bonniesue422]

I need help really badly. For some reason my proxy server settings turned on and would not change. I've read that some programs would automatically turn the proxy server but I do not have any that would. Can somebody please help.

The answer is simpler than you might expect. It is not a virus, but a program that may have been downloaded that acted as the "administrator" and changed the proxy settings. Since your computer is not recognizing you as the "administrator," you simply have to tell it that you are and the Proxy settings will stay. Then your Internet Explorer or Chrome will work again.

I was going crazy with exactly the same issues as you and finally figured it out.

Explorer and Google use the same settings. So when you change one, the other responds as well. The easiest way to fix this is in Explorer, but it you don't have that, you can do the same thing by going to the Google Chrome icon, right click and open it with "Run as Administrator." Then do the same things I did below from Chrome Settings If you don't know where to find this, the bar just below the top bar has see 3 horizontal lines. Click with left button, down to settings, then go to Advanced Settings towards the bottom to CHANGE PROXY SETTINGS. This brings up the same Setting Box as in Internet Explorer. Then follow instructions on "D".

A. If you have Internet Explorer, go to your icon for Internet Explorer on the Start Menu. Click on your right right mouse button and on the drop down menu, open it with "Run as Administrator."

B,. When you do this, then a box opens and it asks if you want this program to make changes to your computer. Click Yes. Then it opens Explorer.

C. Go up to the menu (If you don't see one, then click on gray bar just under the dark blue Internet Explorer Bar with your right mouse and check menu). On the Menu bar, go to Tools and then at the drop down menu, click on Internet Options.

D. Then select the tab, Connections, then LAN settings and REMOVE THE CHECK from USE PROXY SERVER and now CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS. CLICK OK in LAN Setting Box and then OK in the final window. NOW IT WILL STAY since it now recognizes you as the Administrator.

All the best!

Patricia

You're amazing Patricia!! My uncle had this issue and I was able to resolve it using your advice! TY

Patricia.....thank you, thank you, thank you...you are the man, I mean woman....worked perfectly after 4 days of going crazy.

 

[piplupcola]

I need help really badly. For some reason my proxy server settings turned on and would not change. I've read that some programs would automatically turn the proxy server but I do not have any that would. Can somebody please help.

The answer is simpler than you might expect. It is not a virus, but a program that may have been downloaded that acted as the "administrator" and changed the proxy settings. Since your computer is not recognizing you as the "administrator," you simply have to tell it that you are and the Proxy settings will stay. Then your Internet Explorer or Chrome will work again.

I was going crazy with exactly the same issues as you and finally figured it out.

Explorer and Google use the same settings. So when you change one, the other responds as well. The easiest way to fix this is in Explorer, but it you don't have that, you can do the same thing by going to the Google Chrome icon, right click and open it with "Run as Administrator." Then do the same things I did below from Chrome Settings If you don't know where to find this, the bar just below the top bar has see 3 horizontal lines. Click with left button, down to settings, then go to Advanced Settings towards the bottom to CHANGE PROXY SETTINGS. This brings up the same Setting Box as in Internet Explorer. Then follow instructions on "D".

A. If you have Internet Explorer, go to your icon for Internet Explorer on the Start Menu. Click on your right right mouse button and on the drop down menu, open it with "Run as Administrator."

B,. When you do this, then a box opens and it asks if you want this program to make changes to your computer. Click Yes. Then it opens Explorer.

C. Go up to the menu (If you don't see one, then click on gray bar just under the dark blue Internet Explorer Bar with your right mouse and check menu). On the Menu bar, go to Tools and then at the drop down menu, click on Internet Options.

D. Then select the tab, Connections, then LAN settings and REMOVE THE CHECK from USE PROXY SERVER and now CHECK AUTOMATICALLY DETECT SETTINGS. CLICK OK in LAN Setting Box and then OK in the final window. NOW IT WILL STAY since it now recognizes you as the Administrator.

All the best!

Patricia

Hi I tried your method and it doesn't work for me. I've been dealing with this for weeks and weeks and I don't know what to do PLEASE HELP!

 

[Calcium20]

I tried some other options like editing the registry (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie11-iewindows8_1/lan-connection-settings-keep-changing-back-to/76a0f5d2-167f-41fa-bf40-1461b8c01642). But the moment I saved the changes, it was reverted back immediately.

So definitely there was a process doing this. But which one?
I used a tool 'UVK - Ultra Virus Killer', which is quite handy to switch between different views of services, processes, autoruns, etc.
Went into the services view, sorted the services on 'State' (just click on the header) and focused on the running ones. The names dont mean a lot and the explanations often dont give away what it is. So, google is your friend.

There was however one thing I noticed: there was a service running from my 'C\user\<login name>\appdata\local\' directory. And this was the only one, all others ran from more logical directories: Windows or Program Files main directories.
So this was the odd-one-out, also probably the reason why it could stay off the radar of the malware scanners and protectors.

The service was named 'processlocalsplGUI.exe' which would suggest it had to do something with the windows spooling processes. But then again, why such a process would run from that location was a bit of a give-away.

I tried to stop the service, but was not allowed to. Mmmmm. So I opened up the process view and there were actually two processes running from that location. I killed these processes, then disabled the service and than removed the directory they were in.

Then started IE and immediatly got the message that IE could not contact the internet since my proxy wasnt working. Yeah!! ).

I deleted the proxy settings and reverted back to check the autodectect and.... YES, finally, the changes stuck the way the're supposed to.

Then run the Autorun manager within UVK and threw out everything suspicious, which I should have done much earlier, of course, but also here: the judgment of what is right and what is bogus isn't straightforward to me. But hay, I'm not a pro, so give me some slack. BTW, this Autorun view also shows the things started by the Windows Task scheduler, which I totally forgat about: the Task Scheduler can also start processes at logon, so is always worth a look. Get rid of anything odd there too.

Now everything seem to be in order. Phew. Need some sleep now. Learned a lot past 12 hours...

I cannot thank you enough about your solution to this problem. I may not have had the same process/service name that you did, but there were two processes running from that same location which you had your problem. thanks

 

[tguitgui]

Hey,

Check these 2 posts. Also you are probably infected with malware that automatically sets the proxy settings.
http://tonybenev.tk/wordpress/remove-ie-proxy-settings/
http://tonybenev.tk/wordpress/remove-proxy-settings-with-a-bat-file/

 

[mavrick2634]

Same thing happen to me. checked Programs and features and notice a software called "GeniusBox" After removing it, it seems to solve my problem.

 

[hang-the-9]

Btw, I cant understand why someone would suggest doing a complete reboot of Windows to fix one tiny problem. Its so not worth losing all files, pictures, etc. Like killing a fly with a bazooka. Jus sayin!!!

It's simple, the issue is most often caused by a virus. Even if you remove the virus, the damage it does is still there, and there could be quite a few other things not detected.

Setting the proxy off again does not change the fact that the system was infected, and likely with more than one thing.

In that case, it's a lot safer to wipe the system rather than just fix having a proxy set. Running virus removal tools may help, but if it was my own system, I would rather wipe it and be safe rather than have some keylogger keeping track of my bank account passwords if I missed something.

If you get an infection and start bleeding, one person may say "go see a doctor" another may say "buy a bandage". Bandage is cheap, fast, and will stop the bleeding. The person would say "hey that was easy and I'm not bleeding now". Works great till 4 days later you can't get up because you have a 110 degree fever and your skin is turning green because you did not cure the underlying infection.

Fix the issue not the simptom. The proxy setting is only a simptom of a virus.

 

[Quick-Tech]

Is that the only option?

You can read what's in the post I linked to in order to run the program (basically just find it on the disk directly), but why would you want to NOT re-install Windows when it's clearly infected with something, or was?

If you want to keep all your data safe, I recommend getting a new hard drive and installing Windows clean on that. You can put your existing drive in an external enclosure, just make sure you run a full virus scan with a few products on it before doing anything with the files on it.

Why would you tell someone that they need to get a new hard drive and install windows clean? You are not a tech are you?

 

[Stephen365 Hall]

Same thing happen to me. checked Programs and features and notice a software called "GeniusBox" After removing it, it seems to solve my problem.

This exact thing happened to my Win 8.1 tablet. Adware GeniusBox3 gets installed as a side effect of another install. The mal-adware creates a loopback port 127.0.0.1, to spy on your browsers use so it can push ads to you. Microsoft Store app stops working along with half your apps.

I tried all the solutions - settings, admin. and policy, etc. As soon as GeniusBox3 was uninstalled the loopback disappeared.

 

[UK - Neil]

[On the reg key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ProxySettingsPerUser " Take full control of the folder "Internet settings" and add yourself again to the "permission entries" Then, in advanced highlight "system" then press edit, Then press SHOW ADVANCED PERMISIONS. Then, uncheck "full control...query value...set value". In the top half of the window, make sure "type " is set to deny and "applies to" is set to this key only. Then Ok on all and done.

 

[StevoTheDevo]

I had the same happen to me. Couldn't go to no website what so ever so i went to "tools" on me Internet Explorer & then went to my Internet Properties & then to Connections & then at last went to LAN Settings & noticed that both "Automatic Detect settings" & "Use Automatic Configuration Script" was ticked & in the "Use Automatic Configuration Script" had an address in it, so I ran me computer in "Safe Mode With Networking - Holding F9 when me Computer reboots" & then went to Control Panel, Internet Options, & looked at the LAN Settings (Again). I got rid of the Address that was there, unticked both boxes, Rebooted me computer & once that loaded I went straight to the LAN Settings again & both boxes were unticked & that's what I did with no help whatsoever. Thanks to doin Computer courses I can fix stuff without having to take it to a shop to pay someone to fix the problem yay