BUG: WPAD detection does not work on first run of IE

[Christopher Hill]

(also posted to
http://register.microsoft.com/mswish/suggestion.asp)
(if anyone in this newsgroup uses WPAD it would be handy
if you could
confirm that this is an issue)

This is a bug report for Internet Explorer under Windows
2000 or XP (may
also apply to NT4/9x, not tested).

My network uses WPAD to automatically configure proxy
settings. Under
Windows 2000/XP 'Automatically detect settings' (under
Tools / Internet
Settings / Connections / LAN Settings) is enabled by
default, which is
great. When you first log on to a computer (and a new
profile is created for
you), if you start Internet Explorer using the desktop
icon or Quick Launch
then WPAD detection works fine.

However, if you try to launch an Internet site from
Start / Run (for example
by typing in 'www.google.com' into the run bar and
pressing 'OK'), and
Internet Explorer has not been run already, IE does not
bother attempting
WPAD and just tries to connect directly to the site
without getting the
proxy settings. This also happens if you attempt to launch
a site from an
Internet shortcut.

If you close the IE window and then try again, then WPAD
detection takes
place and everything works fine.

It seems that the problem is caused if the registry values
under
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
Settings\Connections
(DefaultConnectionSettings and SavedLegacySettings, in
particular
DefaultConnectionSettings) do not exist on starting up.
You can reproduce
the bug even without logging on with a clean profile by
deleting the
DefaultConnectionSettings value. If this value does not
exist and you
attempt to load a URL from the Run dialog or from an
Internet Shortcut (and
possibly other entry points to IE other than just clicking
on the IE icon)
then WPAD is bypassed for the first run. Once IE has run
once the key is
created and WPAD will work next time IE is started no
matter whether it is
started from the Run dialog or from a shortcut to
iexplore.exe.

Please could you look in to this problem and fix it.

Thanks a lot!

Chris Hill