AnyConnect removes "Connections" tab from IE Settings solution

I have an ASA 5510 that we use for SSL VPN Client access.  The ASA distributes the AnyConnect (v2.4.1012) client installation.  The problem I'm running into os that the AnyConnect client removes the "Connections" tab from Internet Explorer settings dialogue whenever the AnyConnect client is connected.  It re-enables it on a graceful disconnect of the VPN client.  The trouble arises when a user abruptly closes the AnyConnect VPN client. The "Connections" tab is left hidden and subsequent connect/disconnects of the VPN client do not restore it.  This is very frustrating for our users as they are instructed to go the "Connections" tab to disable their proxy settings before attempting to run the VPN client so that it can reach the VPN server.  Then they are supposed to re-enable their proxy settings afterwards.  Not being able to access the settings tab sort of throws a wrench into the whole process.

 

I've discovered that the AnyConnect client creates a registry key:

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftInternet ExplorerControl Panel]

"ConnectionsTab"=dword:00000001

 

The dword value that it assigns is 1.  This tells the IE settings menu to hide the "Connections" tab.  You can edit the registry with regedit and set the value to "dword:00000000" and the Connections tab will no longer be hidden.  When you gracefully exit the AnyConnect client and it has created the key with a value of "dword:00000001" it will remove the key from the registry.  You won't find the key in existence when the AnyConnect client is not running.  If you add the key using regedit while the AnyConnect client is not running and set the value to "dword:00000000", from that point on the AnyConnect client will no longer modify this key.  It will only create/delete the key if it is not present when the AnyConnect client is started.

 

My problem is that I don't want to have to modicy the registry on each of the hundreds of computers in my organization.

 

Does anyone know of another way, possibly through the ASA's VPN client customization, that it can be configured to leave the IE "Connections" tab alone?

 

Thanks!

 

 

The solution:

Method 1

Try the below step to change the settings for the connections tab in internet explorer 9.

a)    Click on Start, type gpedit.msc to open group policy editor.

b)    Now navigate to the below mentioned location

Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsInternet ExplorerInternet Control Panel

c)     Now double click on Disable the connection tab and make sure that it is set to Not configured

d)    Exit group policy and check if the issue persists.

 

Method 2

If the above step fails then scan and remove any malware or virus infections from the computer and check.

 

The below scan only works on 32 bit version of Windows

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

 

You may use Microsoft security essentials to scan your computer

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/