To assist users who are experiencing network connectivity issues, Microsoft introduced the Network Diagnostics Framework (NDF) in Windows Vista.  NDF is designed to simplify and automate many of the common troubleshooting steps and solutions for networking-related problems.  In Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, NDF functionality is extended by integrating with other new Windows 7 features, such as the Troubleshooting feature in Control Panel, network tracing using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), and a new Netsh command line context, Netsh Trace, which provides advanced tracing capabilities.

Example: Internet Explorer browse session fails

Launch Internet Explorer, and then attempt connect to the resource of your choice. If the connection fails, the Windows Network Diagnostics wizard opens. For example, you might attempt to connect to http://www.msn.com

When the connection attempt fails, Internet Explorer displays the message; Internet Explorer cannot display the web page, as shown in the following figure.

Click Diagnose Connection Problems, to launch the diagnostics. The Windows Network Diagnostics wizard opens.

After the diagnostic completes its initial analysis, review the information, and then follow the steps that diagnostics provides to resolve your problem.