How to Disable IPSEC for Clients That Are Running an Earlier Version of Windows

When you troubleshoot L2TP or Internet Protocol security (IPSec) issues for clients that are running either Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Windows NT Workstation, you may find it easier to troubleshoot L2TP issue after you disable IPSec. To disable IPSec, you can modify the registry.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Note The registry key that is described in this section exists after you install Microsoft L2TP/IPSEC VPN Client on the client computer.

To disable IPSEC:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Locate and then click following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\IRE\SafeNet/Soft-PK\ACL\1
3. Double-click Action in the right pane, type 1 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.
   
   NOTE: By default, the Action value is set to 2, which means secure.
4. Quit Registry Editor.

For additional information about how to disable the automatic L2TP/IPSec policy, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: