Shortcuts

How to repair TCP/IP and Winsock

2004-12-01 (updated: 2024-08-13) by Philip
Tags: Winsock, TCP/IP

Internet connectivity problems can often occur due to malware, misconfiguration, or corrupted networking software installation. When this occurs, packets don't get transferred over the network even thoguh it may seem you're connected to the internet. When you start Internet Explorer, you may receive an error message: "The page cannot be displayed"

In addition, you may receive one of several other error messages while using the "ipconfig" command:

"An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket"
"An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection: the requested service provider could not be loaded or initialized."
"The attempted operation is not supported for the type of object referenced."
"The operation failed since no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation."

You can use the methods below to recover from Winsock and TCP/IP corruption and reset them to their default state.

Use the TCP Optimizer to reset TCP/IP and Winsock

The SG TCP Optimizer has the ability to repair/reset TCP/IP and Winsock:

1. Download and run the program
2. Navigate to the "File > Reset Winsock" menu
3. Navigate to the "File > Reset TCP/IP" menu
4. Restart Windows

Reset TCP/IP and Winsock under Windows 10, 11

With Windows 10, or 11, run the following netsh commands, preferably run command prompt as administrator (search for command prompt, right-click and choose "Run as administrator")

netsh winsock reset

netsh int tcp reset all

netsh int ip reset all

Restart Windows

Note: Reportedly, with Windows 11 24H2, if you use the BBR congestion avoidance algorithm, you may experience issues accessing local apis like Plex, Steam.

Reset TCP/IP and Winsock under Windows 8, or 2012 Server

With Windows 8, the netsh command is deprecated and not all of its functionality works. Using the "netsh int ip reset" may cause the following errors:

Resetting, failed.
Access is denied.

Try using PowerShell instead. PowerShell can be started by searching from the Windows/Start menu, or via the Windows System folder. You should right-click it and choose to "Run as administrator".

To reset TCP/IP, run the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Remove-NetIPAddress

To reset Winsock, the netsh command still works (under elevated command prompt, or Admin PowerShell):

netsh winsock reset

Note: It's been suggested that the "netsh int ip reset" command fails because of insufficient permissions in the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nsi\{eb004a00-9b1a-11d4-9123-0050047759bc}\26 (right-click on key in regedit -> permissions -> tick "full control")

Reset TCP/IP in Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2

Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7

The below command resets TCP/IP to its default state under Windows XP SP2 and newer OSes. You will have to use elevated command prompt under Vista/Windows 7:

netsh int ip reset

Note: If you'd like to generate a log file of the changes, append a logfile path to the above command, i.e.: "netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt". Changes will be appended to the end of the log file if it exists.

The above NetShell (netsh) command-line tool resets the following registry branches to their default state:
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DHCP\Parameters\

Reset Winsock in Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2

Windows XP SP2, Vista, Windows 7

Winsock (the Windows Sockets API) defines how software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standard interface between TCP/IP client appliactions (such as an FTP client or a web browser) and the unterlying TCP/IP protocol stack.

To repair Winsock and reset it to its default state, start command prompt (elevated command prompt under Vista/Windows 7) and type the following command:

netsh winsock reset

Note: If you'd like to generate a log file of the changes, append a logfile path to the above command, i.e.: "netsh winsock reset c:\resetlog.txt". Changes will be appended to the end of the log file if it exists.

Reinstall TCP/IP under Windows 2000

You might have to reinstall TCP/IP to help resolve some issues, such as improperly configured bindings, dialup clients that are unable to connect to the RAS server, NIC drivers that do not properly bind to the TCP/IP protocol, etc.

To remove TCP/IP in Windows 2000:

Reinstall TCP/IP, and restart your computer again.

Note: this method is only available under older Windows OSes (pre-XP). Later Windows versions consider the TCP/IP stack a core component of the operating system and disable the uninstall option for the TCP/IP protocol.

User Reviews/Comments:

rate: avg:

by Faisal Kohgadai - 2007-11-23 13:24

There's a tool that you can use for XP to reset this for you. Especially when you receive [��] when pinging local host. Its called WinSock XP Fix

by Pete - 2015-05-12 02:31

Just a little trick I use to edit the registry from the cmd line or a batch file using SetACL which you can download for free.

x:\file location\SetACL.exe -on "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nsi\{eb004a00-9b1a-11d4-9123-0050047759bc}\26" -ot reg -actn ace -ace "n:Administrators;p:full" -actn setowner -ownr "n:Administrators" -silent

by Gerco - 2019-11-29 05:10

The registry change indeed allowed me to reset the int ip... would have never guessed it.
Thank you!