Hi Michael 

Am not sure on XP but on 2000 to be able to use both Internet and VPN you
need to take a checkmark out.

Here was what I had discovered.
If you first access the Internet you then could not access through the
Firewall. 
If you first accessed through the Firewall then you could not access the
Internet.


To get to use both in 2000 I did the following (Unfamiliar at the moment
with XP but it should have something similar)

If this is what your problem is…

Then try the following

ON My Network Places (Right click go to properties)

On Dial-up Connection (Right click go to properties)

Network TAB

Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) … Properties

ADVANCED

Take the check mark out of
Use default gateway on remote network

Now access to both VPN and the rest of the Internet work fine.

Hope this helps
TTYL
Gordon


"Michael A. Wosnick" wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I am running WinXP on my home computer and have a PPTP VPN connection  from
> my home (cable modem on my end) to my workplace. It works fine except for
> one thing. As soon as my PPTP is active, I lose all ability to use IE and
> cannot connect to the internet at all.
> 
> Is there some way I can fix this? Is this a function of PPTP itself, or a
> function of the way my workplace firewall is set up. This mutual exclusivity
> is frustrating. Surely there must be some way to use my VPN and the internet
> at the same time?
> 
> All advice appreciated.
> 
> Michael
> 
>          PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
>                      visit our download web page at:
>                   http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml

         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml