How to fix Windows 11 saying i'm not connected to the internet but apps and browsers connect and work?

Anonymous
2023-11-01T03:51:56+00:00

Windows 11 update is not working saying "We couldn't connect to the update service. We'll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn't work, make sure you're connected to the Internet." (I checked and the windows update service is running), I tried the windows troubleshooter for network and internet and it says "Looks like you aren't connected to the internet." but all apps and browsers connect to internet fine. Today I tried a repair install of the new 23H2 update from the ISO and no luck with that, the troubleshooter and windows update still say no connection to internet. What now?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-15T09:23:05+00:00

    thanks for sharing I will give a try

    About your hypothesis : after diisabling the network (in anyway), the system should try to probe again the network (Network Connectvity Indicatr Status) and the issue should disappear ?

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-11-15T02:43:51+00:00

    I've encountered and still am encountering this issue on Win11 23H2 (after wake from sleep specifically) and have the following workaround.

    I've been able to consistently reproduce this issue as well.

    Here's my findings:

    Fault Condition

    1. When you first hit the start-up screen - before login, there's a network icon on the bottom right that starts as no connection.
    2. If you choose to login at this point, you'll enter Windows with the Network showing as not having an Internet connection.
    3. Microsoft Store & Windows Updates as well as UWP apps like Google Drive/ Dropbox will not work (stop syncing).
    4. All other apps requiring Internet connection chug along happily.

    Fix attempts that don't work:

    • Issuing ipconfig /renew
    • Issuing ipconfig /flushdns
    • Disable/ Enable network adapter
    • Change from Network adapter from Wired Ethernet to Wireless (I've both)
    • Doing a SFC (no faults)
    • Updating/ Re-installing Network Drivers

    Workaround

    1. When you first hit the start-up screen - before login, there's a network icon on the bottom right that starts as no connection.
    2. "Fix" - Wait till this icon changes to show a connection before you login.
    3. That's it.

    Hypothesis

    So what I think is happening is:

    1. When the computer wakes from sleep/ starts up at the login screen, it's operating as the 'System" user environment.
    2. Windows will then repeatedly attempt to check it's connectivity status by reaching out to Microsoft update servers (as "System" user).
    3. The network is still being initialized and so Windows thinks that it is offline until this is done.
    4. For some reason, if you login to any account, it loads the User environment for that account but stops the Network Check process running under the "System" account so Windows stops validating it's online connectivity status.
    5. Some UWP apps that use API calls to Windows to check for online connectivity would then think they're offline - in my case, Google Drive & Dropbox.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-11-14T10:34:01+00:00

    www.msftconnecttest.com

    result : page not found !

    The following error was encountered while trying to retrieve the URL: http://ipv6.msftconnecttest.com/

    Unable to determine IP address from hostname ipv6.msftconnecttest.com

    The DNS server returned:

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-11-13T22:17:18+00:00

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet] "ActiveDnsProbeContent"="131.107.255.255" "ActiveDnsProbeContentV6"="fd3e:4f5a:5b81::1" "ActiveDnsProbeHost"="dns.msftncsi.com" "ActiveDnsProbeHostV6"="dns.msftncsi.com" "ActiveWebProbeContent"="Microsoft Connect Test" "ActiveWebProbeContentV6"="Microsoft Connect Test" "ActiveWebProbeHost"="www.msftconnecttest.com" "ActiveWebProbeHostV6"="ipv6.msftconnecttest.com" "ActiveWebProbePath"="connecttest.txt" "ActiveWebProbePathV6"="connecttest.txt" "CaptivePortalTimer"=dword:00000000 "CaptivePortalTimerBackOffIncrementsInSeconds"=dword:00000005 "CaptivePortalTimerMaxInSeconds"=dword:0000001e "EnableActiveProbing"=dword:00000001 "PassivePollPeriod"=dword:0000000f "StaleThreshold"=dword:0000001e "WebTimeout"=dword:00000023 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet\ManualProxies] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkConnectivityStatusIndicator] @="" "NoActiveProbe"=dword:00000000 "DisablePassivePolling"=dword:00000001

    COPY PASTE TO DESKTOP IN FILE IT WILL AUTO CREATE REG FILE RUN FILE PROBLEM FIXED

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-10-20T18:59:02+00:00

    Thank you so much for the great directions. I am not at all savvy about the inner workings of my computer, but your instructions were easy to follow! Most of the time when I go looking for help, the post is old and the terms no longer match newer versions and I end up troubleshooting by clicking on other titles that seem similar. It makes for a long and frustrating fix.

    My messages slowly, but then they started coming faster and more frequently - it almost looked like a virus. They began with "check your network configuration settings and unable to reach the server". To add to the problem, I started getting a second message with "unable to access server message at random times". The second message started coming several at a time, I really thought I had a virus. I am happy to report that, for now, it looks like it is back to normal - yipeeee! Even it isn't, I will be back. Good luck y'all!

    Lynn

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