Not Prompted to Disconnect After You Quit Internet Explorer

When you quit Internet Explorer, you may not be prompted to disconnect from your Internet service provider (ISP).

This behavior can occur if the Loadwc.exe file is absent or damaged, or if the BrowserWebCheck string value is absent in 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.


To resolve this issue, upgrade to Internet Explorer 4.01 with the Windows Desktop Update component. To install Internet Explorer 4.01, visit the following Microsoft Web site: To work around this issue, use either of the following methods:

Method 1

Modify the registry to cause the Loadwc.exe file to load automatically when you start Windows 95. To do so, add the BrowserWebCheck string value with a data value of loadwc.exe to the following registry key:

Method 2

Subscribe to a Web page. For information about how to do so, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The BrowserWebCheck (Loadwc.exe) component monitors Web pages for changes, and either notifies you when a Web page is updated or downloads the Web page for off-line viewing.

NOTE:Auto Disconnect can also stop responding if another application is using the connection. The other connection may not be obvious, as applications such as Active Desktop, some screen savers, offline content collection for Internet Explorer, and some scheduled tasks may use the Internet connection in the background.

When you change the Auto Disconnect option, the setting may not take affect immediately. You may need to close Internet Explorer and disconnect from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). When you reconnect to your ISP, the settings take affect.