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The Nuclear Option: Resetting The Crap Out Of Your Network Adapters in Vista

September 20, '07 Comments [7] Posted in Musings
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I was having a number of strange network issues on a laptop today. Here's the complete nuclear option for resetting your whole IP stack. This is for when "Diagnose and Repair" isn't cutting it. Thanks to JohnP for his help.

  • Go to the Start Menu, type cmd and right click, and select "Run As Administrator"
  • Type the following commands, each followed by pressing enter.
    • ipconfig /flushdns
    • nbtstat -R
    • nbtstat -RR
    • netsh int reset all
    • netsh int ip reset
    • netsh winsock reset

UPDATE: On Windows 7, you'll need to do this to reset your network adapters:

  • ipconfig /flushdns
  • nbtstat -R
  • nbtstat -RR
  • netsh int reset all
  • netsh int ipv4 reset
  • netsh int ipv6 reset
  • netsh winsock reset

Now, reboot and pray. Possibly not in that order.

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About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Comments [7]
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Thursday, 20 September 2007 22:56:09 UTC
Another command to resolve Vista networking issues. I had to do this in order for TortoiseSVN to work through SSH.

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
Alan Le
Thursday, 20 September 2007 23:07:12 UTC
After typing cmd you can hold Ctrl + Shift and hit Enter to run as Administrator, its way quicker!
Fabio Gomes
Friday, 21 September 2007 03:34:59 UTC
I seems like your problem is the use of Vista. Perhaps you should downgrade to a more stable OS.
Eddie
Friday, 21 September 2007 06:17:32 UTC
Great! Thanks!

Why is it we can't trust Windows to actually repair anything? Repairing software almost never solves the issue, and neigher does repairing a network connection.

Andrew
Friday, 21 September 2007 09:40:18 UTC
I have had recent difficulties on XP and Vista with network access. Both times I found that the Microsoft TCP/IP version 6 protocol was installed on the network interface. After unistalling, my network connection began working again. Not sure if its Microsofts TCP/IPv6, or just my older MS Wireless Router having an issue with TCP/IPv6? Also, I don't remember installing TCP/IPv6 -- maybe Windows Update?
J. Joseph
Friday, 21 September 2007 15:10:30 UTC
I've found that this happens with great frequency on two of my three Vista machines. I keep a shortcut to Control Panel\Network Connections on my desktop, and actually have to just click on the net adapter having issues, click "Disable", wait about 10 seconds (the waiting is key, alas), then click "Enable". This fixes the issue almost every time (about 1 in 10 times I do need to reboot as well).

All in all, yes, I think the IPv6 stack needs some additional debugging. Having written a custom TCP/IP stack, I completely sympathize with the proto stack dev team at MS. IP is a foobugly protocol to implement.

Cheers,
Mike
Mike Henderson
Sunday, 23 September 2007 13:25:40 UTC
Thanks!

I just had to reboot because of Network issues... I Did remember reading this, but after the Network was down, I had some issues reaching this resource ;)

I made a small batch file so I can try it the next time it happens (And it happens quite regulary)
Heiko Hatzfeld
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.