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Fixing Windows blue screen using Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Phone 8

6 Comments

I have been reviewing a Nokia 620 – an excellent budget smartphone.

Yesterday I was travelling and used the Internet Connection Sharing feature. This is one of the best features of Windows Phone 8, allowing you to use your mobile data connection as a wireless hotspot.

Unfortunately it did not work properly. It could connect for a bit, then the PC (a Samsung Slate running Windows 8) would crash. The error is Driver_IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equal and the driver mentioned is netwsw00.sys.

The fix is easy (once you know). Reboot, and before you connect to the hotspot (or before it crashes), view the properties of the wireless connection. Click Advanced, and enable Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for the connection.

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Presto! everything works.

If you want to know what FIPS is, see here. The question of what difference the setting makes though is not known to me, though there are some clues here.

Fortunately you do not need to know, just make the change.

I am glad Windows Phone 8 is FIPS compliant (why not?) but disappointed that some issues with Windows 7 and 8 (I repeated the problem in Windows 7) and this hotspot feature, possibly also involving third-party wireless drivers, causes such a catastrophic and repeatable crash.

6 thoughts on “Fixing Windows blue screen using Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Phone 8”

  2. Hello,

    Thanks for posting this, this is the exact problem that I am having as well. However, for the life of me, I can’t find the Advanced Window that you are referring to.

    Where can I find this?

    Thanks

    Gary

    1. In Windows 8 and earlier you right-click the connection in the connection list, choose Properties and then advanced.

      In Windows 8.1 go to control panel, Network and Sharing Center, click the connection, then Wireless properties, then Security tab, then Advanced settings.

      The setting is on the connection, not the wireless adapter.

      If anyone knows a quicker way to get to this dialog in Windows 8.1 let me know!

      Tim

  3. Hi Guys,

    Its not working for me even after I checked the FIPS thingy.
    I am using Win 7.

    Any suggestions?

  4. Pingback: BSOD Windows Phone 8 in tethering: enable FIPS compliance - Turibbio's Blog

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