Release v0.7.1-alpha - Mostly working (some known minor bugs)

[djdarcy]

Release v0.7.1-alpha

What's Changed

New Features

• Network Diagnostics Module: Added comprehensive diagnostic capabilities with layered testing (ICMP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS)
• Security Monitoring: Implemented connection tracking and suspicious activity detection
• Enhanced Web Interface: Completely redesigned the redirect page with interactive diagnostics and more
• Install Validation Script: Added test_installation.py for thorough verification of all installation components
• Windows Registry Defaults: Added Windows_Defaults.reg for easier recovery of original settings
• Improved Installation Scripts: Enhanced the much easier to use batch script installer/uninstaller with better parameter handling and help information

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Socket Binding Issue: Fixed by binding to all interfaces (0.0.0.0) instead of specific IP addresses
• Flake8 Syntax Error: Resolved global TIMEOUT variable scope issues in service_installer.py
• Service Connectivity: Improved verification with better error detection and reporting
• Installation Stability: Enhanced error handling during installation process
• Path Handling: Improved handling of paths with spaces and special characters
• Parameter Processing: Fixed installation scripts to properly handle directory parameters

📝 Documentation

• Updated README.md with new features and expanded troubleshooting section
• Enhanced CHANGELOG.md with detailed version history
• Added documentation for advanced diagnostic tools
• Updated installation instructions with new options
• Added additional help text to batch scripts

🧰 Maintenance

• Deprecated test_connectivity.py (now in .\scripts, but will be removed soon) in favor of the more robust network_diagnostics.py
• Improved file organization with clearer module structure
• Enhanced logging for easier troubleshooting
• Improved batch scripts with consistent parameter handling between install and uninstall

Installation

Quick Install

1. Download the ZIP file from this release
2. Extract it to a temporary location
3. Right-click on _install.bat and select "Run as administrator"

Manual Installation

git clone https://github.com/djdarcy/Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX.git 
cd Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX
python installer.py --install

Custom Installation Options

# Install to a custom directory
_install.bat "C:\Custom Path\NCSI Resolver"

# Install with a different port (if port 80 is in use)
_install.bat --port=8080

# Install to a custom directory with debug logging
_install.bat "C:\Custom Path" --debug

After Installation

Verify Your Installation

Run the validation test script to verify everything is working correctly:

python test_installation.py --verbose

Check the Web Interface

Visit http://localhost/redirect in your browser to see the new interactive diagnostic page showing interface details.

Known Issues

• Service may not start if port 80 is already in use (use --port option during installation)
• Some security software may still interfere with the service (add exceptions if needed)
• Changes may require a system restart to fully take effect in some cases

What's Next

There are plans to implement a pluggable architecture that would allow users to create custom diagnostic modules, extend monitoring capabilities, and implement their own notification mechanisms. This would transform NCSI Resolver into a powerful network diagnostic and monitoring platform that can quickly drop a connection if it sees attacks; or stop the interface in the event of abnormal wireless behavior to protect the host machine.

Full Changelog

For a complete list of changes, see the CHANGELOG.md file.

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This discussion was created from the release Release v0.7.1-alpha - Mostly working (some known minor bugs).

[Hashuby]

Hey I'm getting an error saying "The NCSI Revolver Service could not be started

A Service specific error occurred: 3."

Know anything about this?

[djdarcy]

Normally "error occurred: 3" indicates a path-related issue in Windows (probably an "ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND") meaning the system cannot find a specified path. If I had to guess possible causes:

1. invalid service binary path (path to the NCSI resolver exe is incorrect) [solution: I'd need to see how the service is registered during installation]
2. missing dependency [solution: this is a harder one if you are missing something basic on your install]
3. config path issue [solution: difficulties accessing files / folders in protected locations / nonexistent directories -- probably just means you need to run the installation as administrator]

If everything is already installed in any browser try going to the link: http://localhost/redirect

This will give you a basic diagnostics NCSI Resolver user panel. You can click "Run Quick Network Diagnostics" to get some details about what services are working or not working on your system (i.e. ICMP, DNS resolution, HTTP / HTTPS connectivity).

If the "redirect" page isn't loading try Win+R (opening the run dialog) and then typing services.msc. Find the "NCSI resolver service". Right click and select "start". Alternatively if you want to start/restart the NCSI resolver service from the cmd.exe admin shell (i.e. Win+R, run dialog, type powershell -Command "Start-Process cmd -Verb RunAs", enter) you can just type sc start NCSI resolver. If you run sc start NCSI resolver from the shell you should see:

[SC] StartService FAILED 1056:

An instance of the service is already running.

If all of that doesn't work, just to make sure you are following all the steps:

1. Download the latest stable "source" release: https://github.com/djdarcy/Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX/archive/refs/tags/v0.7.2-alpha.zip
2. Extract the zip to a temp location
3. Right click on "_install.bat" and select "Run as administrator"

You may need to configure .\NCSIresolver\config.json in the location where you downloaded and extracted Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX-0.7.2-alpha.

Or if you want to try the latest build by hand with more debugging enabled in a cmd.exe shell with admin privs (hit WIN+R and type powershell -Command "Start-Process cmd -Verb RunAs" in the run dialog) :

1. git clone https://github.com/djdarcy/Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX.git
2. cd Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX
3. python installer.py --install --debug

When it installs copy the output and share back if you would. You should see something like:

NCSI Resolver Installer
=============================================
Using default installation directory from config.json
Running: python installer.py --install --verbose
2025-06-10 15:28:57,502 - config_manager - INFO - Loaded configuration from C:\Users\USER\Downloads\Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX-0.7.2-alpha\NCSIresolver\config.json

 _   _  ___ ___ ___  ___                _
| \ | |/ __/ __|_ _|| _ \ ___  ___  ___| | __ _____  __
|  \| | (__\_ \ | | |   // -_)(_-< / _ \ \_\ V / -_)| _|
|_|\__|\___/___|___||_|_\\___||__/ \___/\__|\_/\____|_|
    Windows Network Connectivity Status Indicator Resolver


This installer will set up the NCSI Resolver to fix Windows 'No Internet' issues.

2025-06-10 15:28:57,609 - installer - INFO - Testing port 80 availability...
2025-06-10 15:28:58,019 - installer - INFO - Starting installation...
2025-06-10 15:28:58,127 - installer - INFO - Found 1 wireless adapter(s): Wi-Fi
2025-06-10 15:28:58,127 - installer - INFO - Configuring Windows system settings (using port 80)...
2025-06-10 15:28:58,128 - system_config - INFO - Created hosts file backup at C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Backups\hosts.original.20250610-152858.bak
2025-06-10 15:28:58,129 - system_config - INFO - Created standard hosts backup at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts.ncsi_backup.bak
2025-06-10 15:28:58,130 - system_config - INFO - Added new hosts file entry for www.msftconnecttest.com to 192.168.123.123
2025-06-10 15:28:58,131 - system_config - INFO - Backing up existing registry value: ActiveWebProbeHost = www.msftconnecttest.com
2025-06-10 15:28:58,131 - system_config - INFO - Backing up existing registry value: ActiveWebProbePath = connecttest.txt
2025-06-10 15:28:58,150 - system_config - INFO - Registry backup saved to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Backups\ncsi_registry_backup_20250610-152858.reg
2025-06-10 15:28:58,151 - system_config - INFO - Updated NCSI registry settings to use 192.168.123.123/ncsi.txt
2025-06-10 15:28:58,209 - system_config - INFO - Found 1 wireless adapters: Wi-Fi
2025-06-10 15:28:58,246 - system_config - INFO - Configured power settings for Wi-Fi
2025-06-10 15:28:58,246 - system_config - INFO - Attempting to restart Network Location Awareness service...
2025-06-10 15:28:58,261 - system_config - INFO - Direct stop failed, trying SC to restart service...
2025-06-10 15:28:58,268 - system_config - WARNING - Could not stop NlaSvc service, changes may require a system restart to take effect
2025-06-10 15:29:00,301 - system_config - INFO - Successfully restarted Network Location Awareness service
2025-06-10 15:29:00,312 - system_config - INFO - Flushed DNS cache
2025-06-10 15:29:00,509 - system_config - INFO - Released and renewed IP address
2025-06-10 15:29:00,509 - system_config - INFO - System configuration successful
2025-06-10 15:29:00,511 - system_config - INFO - Current NCSI configuration:
2025-06-10 15:29:00,511 - system_config - INFO -   Registry settings:
2025-06-10 15:29:00,511 - system_config - INFO -     ActiveWebProbeHost: 192.168.123.123
2025-06-10 15:29:00,511 - system_config - INFO -     ActiveWebProbePath: /ncsi.txt
2025-06-10 15:29:00,511 - system_config - INFO -   Hosts file redirect: www.msftconnecttest.com -> 192.168.123.123
2025-06-10 15:29:00,512 - installer - INFO - Configuring Windows Firewall for port 80...
2025-06-10 15:29:00,737 - firewall_helper - INFO - Successfully added firewall rule for port 80
2025-06-10 15:29:00,737 - installer - INFO - Windows Firewall configured successfully
2025-06-10 15:29:00,737 - installer - INFO - Creating service files in C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver...
2025-06-10 15:29:00,757 - directory_manager - INFO - Created junction from C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver\Backups to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Backups
2025-06-10 15:29:00,768 - directory_manager - INFO - Created junction from C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Backups\Installation to C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver
2025-06-10 15:29:00,777 - directory_manager - INFO - Created junction from C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver\Logs to C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Logs
2025-06-10 15:29:00,787 - directory_manager - INFO - Created junction from C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Logs\Installation to C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver
2025-06-10 15:29:00,789 - installer - INFO - Installing and starting NCSI Resolver service...
2025-06-10 15:29:00,903 - installer - INFO - Starting service (timeout: 30 seconds)...
2025-06-10 15:29:02,940 - installer - INFO - Service started successfully, verifying connectivity...
2025-06-10 15:29:02,940 - installer - INFO - Successfully connected to service on port 80
2025-06-10 15:29:02,947 - installer - INFO - NCSI Resolver has been successfully installed and configured!
2025-06-10 15:29:02,947 - installer - INFO - Service status: Running
2025-06-10 15:29:02,949 - installer - INFO - Windows should now correctly detect internet connectivity.

Verifying installation...
2025-06-10 15:29:03,014 - config_manager - INFO - Loaded configuration from C:\Users\USER\Downloads\Windows-No-Internet-Secured-BUGFIX-0.7.2-alpha\NCSIresolver\config.json

NCSI Resolver Status:
--------------------------------------------------
System Configuration: Configured

Registry Settings:
  ActiveWebProbeHost: 192.168.123.123
  ActiveWebProbePath: /ncsi.txt

Hosts File Redirect: 192.168.123.123

Service Status: Running
Service Installed: Yes
Service Running: Yes

Server Connectivity: OK (Accessible on port 80)

Overall Status: NCSI Resolver is fully operational

Installation process completed.
If there are any issues, please check the logs in the installation directory.

And also try running python test_installation.py --verbose.

If you can't figure out what's going wrong after looking at all diagnostics look in the folder C:\Program Files\NCSI Resolver you'll see the folder logs at C:\Users\%YOURUSERNAME%\AppData\Local\NCSI_Resolver\Logs.

Just share those log files and we should be able to figure out what's going wrong. Cheers!