A disconnected network adapter appears connected when you run the IPCONFIG command on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has iSCSI Boot Initiator 2.03 installed

When you run the ipconfig command on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer that has Microsoft iSCSI Boot Initiator 2.03 installed, a disconnected network adapter appears connected.

Note This problem occurs only if you click to select the Configure iSCSI Network Boot Support check box when you install iSCSI Boot Initiator 2.03.

This problem occurs because installing iSCSI Boot Initiator 2.03 disables the Media Sensing feature. When a DHCP client disconnects from a network and then connects to a different network, iSCSI Boot Initiator 2.03 lets the client detect new network settings without restarting, releasing, and then renewing the IP information. Media Sensing lets a network adapter detect a network cable connection failure. When a network cable connection failure occurs, Media Sensing removes the bound protocols from the network adapter until the connection is reestablished. However, when Media Sensing is disabled, the network adapter remains bound to the TCP/IP stacks. Therefore, the ipconfig command reports that the network adapter is connected.

To work around this problem, view the status of the network adapter in Network Connections. To do this, click Start, click Connect To, and then click Show all connections.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about the Media Sensing feature, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: