9/23/2015 ResNet: Resetting Network Connections for Windows 7

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ResNet: Resetting Network Connections for Windows 7

There are many ways to reset network settings on a Windows machine. Below are just a few things you can try to reset settings related to network services.
If one method does not fix your problem, try another as there may be multiple things prohibiting your use of the internet.

  Table of Contents
1) Basic Troubleshooting
2) Renewing an IP Address
3) Re-enabling Network Adapters
4) Flushing DNS
5) Resetting TCP/IP Stack
6) Command Prompt Errors

Save this guide as a PDF

Basic Troubleshooting
Sometimes network issues may be so simple we overlook the easy solutions
first. Below are some suggestions on what to check before undergoing the more technical steps.
1) If you are connected with an Ethernet cable, try unplugging and re-plugging it.
2) If you are connected wirelessly, try leaving your current Wi-Fi network and re-joining it.
3) Have you registered your devices? ResNet requires each device to be
registered in order to access the network.
4) Make sure your network adapters are enabled. This document shows you
how to check for that below.
5) Try rebooting your computer
6) Do you have viruses prohibiting your use of the internet? Try running a virus
scan with an application like Malwarebytes or AVAST Antivirus.
7) If you connect to a router make sure that it is connected to the wall jack.
8) Routers need to be registered with ResNet in order to use them.
9) If you are using an Ethernet cable, make sure that that cable is not faulty by
testing your connection with another wall jack.

Renewing an IP Address
Step One: Open up Command Prompt. You can find this by going to Start then typing cmd
into the search box. Under Programs, there should be an application named cmd.exe. Left
click this to open up Command Prompt. Right click this to select Run as administrator.

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Step Two: Inside the Command Prompt window, type one of the following commands:

ipconfig –release

OR

ipconfig /release

And hit Enter. This command will get rid of your current IP address, which is like a “passport” that allows you into the web.

Step Three: Inside the Command Prompt window, type one of the following commands:

ipconfig -renew

OR
ipconfig /renew

And hit Enter. This command will ask your ISP for another IP address.

Step Four: Open a web browser to see if renewing an IP address resolved your issue.

Re-enabling Network Adapters

Step One: Open up Network and Sharing Center. You can find this by going to Start then typing Network and Sharing Center into the search box.

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Step Two: In the left window pane click Change adapter settings.

Step Three: You will see all of your network adapters here which include the Ethernet and Wireless adapters.

Depending on what you are trying to fix, choose the appropriate adapter. Usually, Local Area Connection is your Ethernet adapter and Wireless Network
Connection is your Wi-Fi adapter. Although, these might be named differently the default names are Local Area Connection and Wireless Network Connection.

Step Four: Disable the adapter that is having issues with internet connectivity either by right clicking the adapter and selecting disable, or double clicking the
adapter and choosing the disable button.

Step Five: Re-enable the adapter by double clicking it. You can also re-enable it by right clicking on the adapter icon and selecting Enable.

Step Six: Once the adapters have been re-enabled, try opening a web browser to see if your issue has been resolved.

Flushing DNS
Step One: Open up Command Prompt. You can find this by going to Start then typing cmd into the search box. Under Programs, there should be an application
named cmd.exe. Left click this to open up Command Prompt. Right click this to select Run as administrator.

Step Two: Inside the Command Prompt window, type one of the following commands:

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ipconfig -flushdns

OR
ipconfig /flushdns

And hit Enter. This command resets your DNS resolver. Basically, what DNS does is record names of websites to their IP addresses. By removing the record
that has all the names, the computer can re-establish connections to websites by having to ask for their IP address again.

Resetting TCP/IP Stack

Step One: Open up Command Prompt. You can find this by going to Start then typing cmd into the search box. Under Programs, there should be an application
named cmd.exe. Left click this to open up Command Prompt. Right click this to select Run as administrator.

Step Two: Inside the Command Prompt window, type one of the following commands:

netsh int ip reset

And hit Enter. This command will reset whats called the TCP/IP stack, which is what your computer uses to communicate between your device and incoming
data. After you hit Enter, some text will appear and may look similar to the image below.

Step Three: Inside Command Prompt, type one of the following commands:

netsh int ip set address name="Local Area Connection" dhcp

OR FOR WIRELESS
netsh int ipv4 set address name="Wireless Network Connection" dhcp
And hit Enter. This command will enable DHCP to run through the specified adapter. If DHCP is already enabled it will reply as such.

NOTE: If your adapters are NOT named the same as the above, simply replace the string of text between the quotation marks in the command with the EXACT
name as your adapters e.g. I have an adapter named Housing Static DNS, therefore, the command I will type is: netsh int ip set address name="Housing Static
DNS" dhcp. Also, Windows is usually good about differentiating between IPv4 and IPv6 (types of IP addresses). In my example above, I explicitly wrote ipv4 but
the command does not need this to execute.

Command Prompt Errors

If you are receiving errors when trying to run the commands above, give this fix a try below.

Step One: In Command Prompt, type setx path "%path%";C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32

Step Two: To verify that you have added the path correctly, type path in Command Prompt. You should be able to see C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System32.
The semi-colons denote one complete and explicit path set e.g. C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System32 are two separate paths.

Step Three: To verify that netsh is working, type netsh help. This should list all available netsh commands.

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Windows, resnet, troubleshooting, netsh, connections, network, 7, reset, adapter, netshell, renew, IP, address, dns,
Keywords: flush, tcp/ip, tcp, basic, local area connection, wireless network connection, dhcp, command prompt, resetting, Doc ID: 37620
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UW
Owner: Jeremy H. Group:
Housing
2014-
08-14
Created: 2014-02-12 17:54 CDT Updated:
13:31
CDT
Sites: DoIT Help Desk, DoIT Tech Store, UW Housing
Feedback:   Helpful 101   Unhelpful 50     Comment   Suggest a new document

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