Internet Explorer error "connection timed out" when server does not respond promptly

If you use Internet Explorer, in certain circumstances you may find your Internet Explorer browser shows a “connection timed out” or similar error. This will show up more often on sites that use a lot of back end processing where there may be a delay in information being sent to the browser.
The timeout limit can be set by an entry in the registry of the PC and by default for IE 7/8/9 is 60 minutes. However, there are some program installers (in particular InstallAware) that can set this as low as 10 seconds. This basically means that if a website tales longer than 10 seconds to respond, you will see a timeout error.
Fortunately, it’s easy to fix by editing the registry or by running a Microsoft Fixit
To change the default time-out setting for Internet Explorer in Internet Explorer 4 or a later version manually, follow these steps:

1. Start Registry Editor.
2. Locate the following subkey:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

3. In this subkey you may see a DWORD entry called ReceiveTimeout. this may have a setting of 10000 (10 seconds) – if so, this is the cause of the problem.
4. You can either delete the ReceiveTimeout DWORD entry to change back to default or set it to a custom value. To calculate the correct value, use the “SECONDSx1000 formula”. e.g if you want the time-out 5 minutes, set the value of the ReceiveTimeout entry to 300000 (300 seconds x 1000).
5. Now restart the computer.

If you don’t see a ReceiveTimeout DWORD entry, this is not the cause of the problem. Also take care editing the registry – if you don’t know what you are doing you can cause severe damage to the PC’s operating system and we suggest you use the Microsoft Fixit here or use our remote IT support service