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I just recently purchased my laptop so I am just learning. The message I got on the computer said, Another computer on this network has the same IP address as this computer. Contact your network administrator for help resolving this issue. More details are available in the Windows System event log. What does this mean and is this something important I need to fix. I would appreciate any help in this matter.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I see that message on my home network sometimes, and it's not critical. If you have a home network, try powering off your router, waiting a few seconds, and powering it on. If you're on a business network, consult with the network manager.
Steve Winograd, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)
That is incorrect. You have very easy access to the registry, open run, type regedit....boom...but that has nothing to do with the problem. Its a network issue that just means two of the same devices on your network are sharing the same local IP address....Reinstalling your HD will do nothing at all but be a pain in the butt, take a long time, and possibly lose your files if you aren't sure how to back them up properly. Reformatting the HD will do nothing either, except lose your Operating System. If there is a Windows KB (hotfix or patch you see when running updates) is causing the issue, then all that has to be done is finding the one causing the issue, and uninstall it. You people are going WAY out of the scope of the problem here and are directing people to do useless things to fix it. The answer to everything is not reformat or reinstall the OS. Do your research first please!!
I get this ip address conflict on systems all the time. Microsoft have no solution for this problem and I advise companies to simply reformat their drives and re-install windows v 7 or 8 again. The companies I deal with are really pissed off since they are unable to submit their tax returns because of this Microsoft fault.
If your company can't submit their tax returns because of that pop up box which means nothing, you hit ok and there is no problem, just a small inconvenience of you having to hit ok, then the network sorts itself out.....you might need to rethink what your company is doing, and possible hire some IT professionals to give you advice. That "problem" is not even a problem. If somebody having this pop up box that has written in this entire forum can say that after hitting ok there was STILL a problem, please email me at ******@yahoo.com and I will fix the problem for you. Please do not listen to these ridiculous resolves about resolves about reinstalling your operating system or reformatting your hard drive. Its a NETWORK problem, not a HARDWARE/SOFTWARE problem. Its not even a problem at all, just one of the latest Windows updates has a minor glitch which I'm sure they will fix soon, but for now, just click ok and go about your business.
Can you please give more direction on this? how do we get into DOS and how do we issue these commands? as if you are speaking to a non technical person. thank you very much.
If you need professional technical help, email me at ******@yahoo.com, I will fix your issue for free, this is not a spam message or anything like that. Its a simple fix, and very easy to do. I will also teach you how to get into a DOS screen, which is the same thing as command prompt, or shell. If you don't want to email me then follow these precise instructions:
1.) Click on the start button
2.) Go to All Programs
3.) Go to "Accessories"
4.) When you see "Command Prompt" with a black box to the left, RIGHT CLICK it, and select "Run As Administrator" from the menu that pops out after RIGHT CLICKING.
5.) Select YES when asked if you want to continue
6.) When you have your black box up and showing on the screen, type these commands in order exactly as they are shown. Or you can copy and paste each one, one at a time.
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh i i r r
netsh winsock reset
7.) Then reboot your computer
I'm familiar with dos commands and have tried this sequence several times except i i r r. The ip conflict disappeared on its own. Ididn't bother with flush etc commands. I just rebooted several times. The conflict comes up now and then at the wrong time. Please don't tell me that the Windows network stack functions OK. It doesn't. It's dysfunctional.
Thanks for recommending fixed ips I'm familiar with that too. For reasons I can't go into. I have to use 2 routers, 2 networks in our house. We login to one for internet and the other for other stuff. Both have DHCP enabled because of the array of devices we use.
The ridiculous behaviour of MS network is the ip conflict when there is only one device switched on. MS software somehow retains network device info as 'connected' when they are NOT.
