NVIDIA nForce network controller causes a network connection drop in Windows 7

Symptoms

You have an NVIDIA nForce network controller installed on a computer that is running Windows 7. However, you lose the network connection intermittently. When this issue occurs, the affected network connection is displayed as "limited connection."

Workaround

To work around this issue, disable Receive-Side Scaling (RSS). To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start , and then type cmd in the Search programs and files box.
   

2. Right-click cmd.exe in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator.

   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3. At the command prompt, type netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled, and then press ENTER.

More Information

To determine whether Receive-Side Scaling is enabled, type the following command at an elevated command prompt:

netsh interface tcp show global
You receive an output that resembles the following: Querying active state...

TCP Global Parameters
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Receive-Side Scaling State : enabled The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.