23/07/2016

Reset Winsock in Windows 10

By ben sim

I recently had a problem trying to connect someone’s computer to the internet and I overlooked this simple trick that might just work! i had tried everything to the extent of using another USB-LAN converter, it just won’t connect.

Winsock, is a technical specification that defines how Windows network software should access network services, especially TCP/IP.

Windows comes with Dynamic Link Library (DLL) called winsock.dll that implements the API and coordinates Windows programs and TCP/IP connections.

But sometimes Windows Sockets or Winsock may get corrupted as a result of which you may not be able to connect to the Internet. It may therefore need to be repaired.

Reset Winsock

To reset Winsock in Windows 10 / 8 / 7, open CMD as admin, type the following and hit Enter.

 

netsh winsock reset

 

If you are using IPv4, type netsh int ipv4 reset and hit Enter. If you use ipv6, type netsh int ipv6 reset and hit Enter.

If you’d like to generate a log file of the changes, append a logfile path to the above command, eg. netsh winsock reset c:\winsocklog.txt.

You will have to restart your computer.

Do remember to create a system restore point first.