No Windows Internet Connection

alexanderk · Jul 30, 2026

alexanderk said:
Who ever solves this without doing a full Windows reload deserves a reward.

Problem symptoms are as follows:

#1. Outlook Classic cannot get and send email via POP.

#2. Most - but not all - URLs are not accessible via browser.

#3. Windows widgets cannot load content.

#4. After a Restart - not after a Shut down and Power up - only after a Restart - all connections types (#1, #2, #3) work - but only for 2 minutes.

#5. Windows inside a Virtual Machine has none of these problems at all

This thread has been brilliant. Dedication and knowledge of all contributors are superb. Contributions are amazing. This is the 79th post over 5 days.

Thank you!

-Alex

In #2 for example. . .

URLs "Facebook" and "Instagram" can connect all the time

while

URLs "https://www.google.com/" and "A. Kowalenko & Associates" cannot connect after the 2 minutes are up

Marie SWE · Jul 30, 2026

This is a soooo long shot as i dont have the whole picture....
You can test to see where it cuts out.. in the command prompt or powershell and use pathping to the website that acting up... its good if it already has cut out so you cant connect with the browser to that website so to speak.
If it dont reach its target test one node at the time with pinging the ip with different MTU size start with ping -f -l 1500 then go lower 1490 1480 1470 and see if it starts working
If its start working at for example 1470.. change the MTU value to 1470

But as it works in your VM.. i would compare the settings between your host and the VM as the VM is working.. it feels like something has changed in your network protocol settings

Edit:
what does bother me is it works for the same amount of minutes every time before it cuts out
When i do network troubleshooting i use the program wireshark to analyze the traffic

HeavyHemi · Jul 30, 2026

What this sounds like is some process is starting up and is interfering with networking. Here's another moon shot, The Dev Home project Ironsides, has been known to cause network issues if it gets corrupted. Is that set to auto start?

kelper · Jul 31, 2026

@alexanderk

Why are you so reluctant to do a repair install of Windows? Is it because you really, really want to understand the cause of the problem? I can empathise with that.

Open Settings → System → Recovery.
Look for Fix problems using Windows Update.
Click Reinstall now.
Windows downloads the required files from Microsoft and reinstalls the operating system.
The PC will restart several times.

What is kept?

If the process completes normally, Windows keeps:

Your personal files
Installed desktop programs
Microsoft Store apps
User accounts
Settings and activation status

What might be lost?

Normally nothing significant is removed, but there are exceptions:

Some Windows updates may be reinstalled.
Certain custom system modifications or patches may be reverted.
Very rarely, incompatible security software or drivers can cause issues.

Lavik · Jul 31, 2026

## Practical diagnostic plan (step by step)

1. **Perform a clean boot** (via `msconfig`: hide Microsoft services, disable all third‑party ones, disable startup items). Reboot and immediately check:
- Outlook (POP)
- widgets
- several URLs
- keep a ping running to the router and to `8.8.8.8` (`ping -t`).

If everything stays stable for more than 2 minutes in clean boot, a service or startup item is to blame. You can then re‑enable groups one by one (antivirus, router utilities, etc.) and see when the problem returns.

2. **Check network adapter components:**
- `ncpa.cpl` → right‑click the adapter → “Properties”.
- Review the list of components: temporarily disable anything that isn’t “Microsoft” (or at least note what’s there).

3. **Check proxy and auto‑detection settings:**
- `inetcpl.cpl` → “Connections” → “LAN settings”: uncheck “Automatically detect settings” and ensure no proxy is set.

4. **Review event logs right at the moment the connection drops:**
- `eventvwr.msc` → “Windows Logs” → “System”.
- Look for events from `Tcpip`, `DHCP-Client`, `NetworkProfile`, `Windows Firewall`, as well as from the antivirus/router utilities.

5. **If you suspect network settings are being reset:**
- You can temporarily prevent suspicious services from starting via `services.msc` and test.
- Or review tasks in Task Scheduler that call `netsh`.

alexanderk · Jul 31, 2026

kelper said:
@alexanderk

Why are you so reluctant to do a repair install of Windows? Is it because you really, really want to understand the cause of the problem? I can empathise with that.

Open Settings → System → Recovery.

Look for Fix problems using Windows Update.

Click Reinstall now.

Windows downloads the required files from Microsoft and reinstalls the operating system.

The PC will restart several times.

What is kept?

If the process completes normally, Windows keeps:

Your personal files

Installed desktop programs

Microsoft Store apps

User accounts

Settings and activation status

What might be lost?

Normally nothing significant is removed, but there are exceptions:

Some Windows updates may be reinstalled.

Certain custom system modifications or patches may be reverted.

Very rarely, incompatible security software or drivers can cause issues.

Thank you for the information.

It's not reluctance. I am taking my time. This is a production system used for my business (A. Kowalenko & Associates). I can perform business activities despite connection difficulties.

With 10TB of data on my system and special applications, I am staking very great care making big changes to the system.

In my consulting business, I advise clients to perform major changes on test, quality assurance, and sometimes parallel systems before moving to production. In my case, there is no parallel system. I asked Dell for a replacement under my warranty, but their policy is that replacements are done only when there are hardware issues. All evidence points to a purely software issue.

I will likely schedule a repair activity as soon as next week. In the meantime, my data backups are kept current on my Synology servers.

And, yes, the curious part of me wants to understand the software specifics of my problem. That's the way I run my business and that's the way I have learned and practised software design and development for many decades.

I will keep this forum informed of my progress. And thank each and every one of the generous contributors for their insights.

Cheers,
-Alex

dalchina · Jul 31, 2026

As and when you do recall what I said about NOT accepting updates as part of the process, ensuring you DON'T apply the update you have suggested led to this situation. Depending on the outcome at that point you can then proceed carefully and appropriately.

As it's a mssion critical system you should be using 3rd party disk imaging to provide a means of restoration to the same working state as when the image was created. That's entirely different to simply backing up data.

alexanderk · Jul 31, 2026

dalchina said:
As and when you do recall what I said about NOT accepting updates as part of the process, ensuring you DON'T apply the update you have suggested led to this situation. Depending on the outcome at that point you can then proceed carefully and appropriately.

As it's a mssion critical system you should be using 3rd party disk imaging to provide a means of restoration to the same working state as when the image was created. That's entirely different to simply backing up data.

Thank you, yes, I agree.

We are taking the long weekend off starting today.

I have scheduled my Dell support team to provide assistance next week when it will be time to take the next steps.

In the meantime, have an enjoyable weekend everybody.

Cheers,
-Alex

HeavyHemi · Jul 31, 2026

alexanderk said:
All logical recommendations tried and no solution yet.

After reading this thread, as far as I can tell, you have so far not performed a clean boot and given us the results, nor completely disabled Kaspersky and given us the results. That this issue occurs 2 minutes after rebooting would indicate some defined process is triggering it.

alexanderk · Jul 31, 2026

HeavyHemi said:
After reading this thread, as far as I can tell, you have so far not performed a clean boot and given us the results, nor completely disabled Kaspersky and given us the results. That this issue occurs 2 minutes after rebooting would indicate some defined process is triggering it.

True. Needs of the business have precluded performing the more debilitating procedures.

This long weekend will be spent as a respite from the work.

More to come when we return next week.

Cheers,
-Alex

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

Marie SWE said:
This is a soooo long shot as i dont have the whole picture....
You can test to see where it cuts out.. in the command prompt or powershell and use pathping to the website that acting up... its good if it already has cut out so you cant connect with the browser to that website so to speak.
If it dont reach its target test one node at the time with pinging the ip with different MTU size start with ping -f -l 1500 then go lower 1490 1480 1470 and see if it starts working
If its start working at for example 1470.. change the MTU value to 1470

But as it works in your VM.. i would compare the settings between your host and the VM as the VM is working.. it feels like something has changed in your network protocol settings

Edit:
what does bother me is it works for the same amount of minutes every time before it cuts out
When i do network troubleshooting i use the program wireshark to analyze the traffic

Even though I am taking the long weekend (in Canada) off, I could not resist this test. Thanks for asking.

AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND WHEN ACCESSING WHC | Web Hosting Canada.

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

"What this sounds like is some process is starting up and is interfering with networking. Here's another moon shot, The Dev Home project Ironsides, has been known to cause network issues if it gets corrupted. Is that set to auto start?"

No moons. . .

Marie SWE · Aug 1, 2026

alexanderk said:
Even though I am taking the long weekend (in Canada) off, I could not resist this test. Thanks for asking.

AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND WHEN ACCESSING WHC | Web Hosting Canada.

View attachment 178264

Now when i saw the address/tabs-bar....

That looks like an certificate issue as it shows the shield with "Not Secure"
What information can you get if you click on the shield?

Have you made any tweaks to the browser and have you set the browser to HTTPS only and DoH (Dns over Https) etc.?

Do you have an antivirus that interact with the browser certificates and DNS to check you only visiting safe websites?

HeavyHemi · Aug 1, 2026

alexanderk said:
"What this sounds like is some process is starting up and is interfering with networking. Here's another moon shot, The Dev Home project Ironsides, has been known to cause network issues if it gets corrupted. Is that set to auto start?"

No moons. . .

View attachment 178266

Have you used MSconfig to perform a clean boot? It would take you all of a few minutes.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows | Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the clean boot process to troubleshoot a problem in Windows

support.microsoft.com

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

Marie SWE said:
Now when i saw the address/tabs-bar....

View attachment 178267

That looks like an certificate issue as it shows the shield with "Not Secure"
What information can you get if you click on the shield?

Have you made any tweaks to the browser and have you set the browser to HTTPS only and DoH (Dns over Https) etc.?

Do you have an antivirus that interact with the browser certificates and DNS to check you only visiting safe websites?

Yes . . .

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

HeavyHemi said:
Have you used MSconfig to perform a clean boot? It would take you all of a few minutes.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows | Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the clean boot process to troubleshoot a problem in Windows

support.microsoft.com

Next week. . .

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

Marie SWE said:
Now when i saw the address/tabs-bar....

View attachment 178267

That looks like an certificate issue as it shows the shield with "Not Secure"
What information can you get if you click on the shield?

Have you made any tweaks to the browser and have you set the browser to HTTPS only and DoH (Dns over Https) etc.?

Do you have an antivirus that interact with the browser certificates and DNS to check you only visiting safe websites?

Marie SWE · Aug 1, 2026

When the browser cuts out.. test to inactivate Kaspery addon.. and then hit F5 to update the webpage that stopped working

as for DoH its okay to use as it can prevent "some" DNS-poisoning, but it gives a totally false security about privacy as the ISP can see anyway what website you visiting by the website IP and also by the SNI request.
Edit: (for those that dont want to google on SNI.. Server Name Indication)

alexanderk · Aug 1, 2026

Marie SWE said:
When the browser cuts out.. test to inactivate Kaspery addon.. and then hit F5 to update the webpage that stopped working

as for DoH its okay to use as it can prevent "some" DNS-poisoning, but it gives a totally false security about privacy as the ISP can see anyway what website you visiting by the website IP and also by the SNI request.
Edit: (for those that dont want to google on SNI.. Server Name Indication)

Disabled Kaspersky add-on and refreshed the web page. No access.

KevTech · Aug 1, 2026

alexanderk said:
Yes

What happens if you test with DNS over https turned off?

No Windows Internet Connection

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