System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was closed...

[Jonathan Crowther]

On one PC the following test code results in an error on
the GetResponse line while it works OK on another PC. The
only difference that I am aware of is that the one that
works is XP while the problem occurs on Windows 2000. I
have tested that the Internet connection is OK through IE.
Does anyone know what the problem could be? The error is:

System.Net.WebException: The underlying connection was
closed: An unexpected error occurred on a receive.
at(System.Net.HttpWebRequest.CheckFinalStatus())
at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.EndGetResponse(IAsyncRes ult
asyncResult)
at(System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse())

Private Function TestForWebConnection() As Boolean
Dim bResult As Boolean
Try
bResult = True
Dim URI As New System.Uri
("http://www.microsoft.com")
Dim TestRequest As Net.WebRequest =
Net.WebRequest.Create(URI)
TestRequest.Timeout =
Threading.Timeout.Infinite
Dim TestResponse As Net.WebResponse =
TestRequest.GetResponse
Catch ex As Exception
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString)
bResult = False
End Try
Return bResult
End Function