DNS request timed out in command prompt

I was able to get nslookup to work. On another forum I was told to run a program called RstHostsv2.0 that resets the default host file and then run a batch file that they said "disables useless items". After running the batch file, nslookup now works. However, since I'm not sure if the issue with Halo MCC is still going to persist, and because I'm not sure if anything else was included in the sync when I reinstalled Win 11 that could cause me problems, I am going to re-do the clean install w/ format again but this time use a different microsoft account when I sign in, and make close note on what options are presented to me regarding anything sync.

The code for the batch file I used was:

@echo off
wmic /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call Enable "%SystemDrive%"
WMIC /Namespace:\\root\default Path SystemRestore Call CreateRestorePoint "BatchRestorePoint", 100, 10
fsutil resource setautoreset true c:\&fsutil usn deletejournal /d /n c:
powercfg.exe /setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e
powercfg -hibernate off
bitsadmin /reset /allusers
nbtstat -R
nbtstat -RR
netsh winsock reset all
netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh winhttp reset proxy
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
netsh interface httpstunnel reset all
netsh interface portproxy reset all
netsh interface ip delete arpcache
netsh advfirewall reset
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles state On
wmic nicconfig where (IPEnabled=TRUE) call SetDNSServerSearchOrder ("8.8.8.8", "8.8.4.4")
%WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\lodctr.exe /R
%WINDIR%\SysWOW64\lodctr.exe /R
C:\Windows\SYSTEM32\lodctr.exe /R
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\lodctr.exe /R
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
pause
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
pause
del /s /q C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\download\*.*
del /s /q "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\Cache\*.*"
del /s /q "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache\*.*"
del /s /q "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Cache\Cache_Data\*.*"
del /s /q "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\temp\*.*"
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.tmp
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.log
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\*.chk
del /f /s /q %systemdrive%\recycled\*.*
del /f /s /q %windir%\*.bak
del /f /s /q %windir%\prefetch\*.*
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
sc stop RasAuto
sc stop RasMan
sc stop SessionEnv
sc stop TermService
sc stop UmRdpService
sc stop RemoteAccess
sc config RasAuto start= disabled
sc config RasMan start= disabled
sc config SessionEnv start= disabled
sc config TermService start= disabled
sc config UmRdpService start= disabled
sc config RemoteAccess start= disabled
sc stop sysmain
sc config sysmain start= disabled
sc stop iphlpsvc
sc config iphlpsvc start= disabled
sc stop DiagTrack
sc config DiagTrack start= disabled
sc stop dmwappushservice
sc config dmwappushservice start= disabled
sc stop WSearch
sc config WSearch start= disabled
sc stop lfsvc
sc config lfsvc start= disabled
del /s /q %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs\AutoLogger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener.etl
REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DataCollection /v AllowTelemetry /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\SQMClient\parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0xFFFFFFFF
reg add hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services\tcpip6\parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0xFFFFFFFF
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 255 /f
echo "" > %ProgramData%\Microsoft\Diagnosis\ETLLogs\AutoLogger\AutoLogger-Diagtrack-Listener.etl
sfc /scannow
pause
shutdown -r
Exit /B

If anyone reading this is in a similar situation and you aren't very good with computers, to run a batch file you paste the text into command prompt and save it as something.bat, for example clean.bat is what I saved it as. And then you right click on the file and select run as administrator and follow the command prompt window. I want to stress I don't know exactly what this batch file does specifically and I can't say it won't cause you problems! But it seems to have worked for me.

I will update once Windows is installed again.

To answer your question: yes, I can imagine it because we see surprises like that a lot. But we try to refocus on the fixes to get it resolved and then try to take account of what might have happened and encourage reporting it to developers who may not even know of blowback caused by changes. They're supposed to find this out through telemetry but that's tangled up in privacy issues so many turn it off or minimize it, and they don't even collect telemetry on many of these things.

So let's go over the ethernet to try to find and fix any problems:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the detailed results you post back, I will have other suggestions if necessary.

______________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

What's crazy is that this entire past month I had been having an issue with my ethernet not working after I updated my LAN driver. I tried multiple motherboards, CPUs, RAM, SSDs, GPUs, PSUs but no matter what I did my ethernet wouldnt work or would only work intermittently... Can you imagine if my problem was a system corruption that got transferred over because I... signed in to my Microsoft account? How absurd would that be if that's what caused all of this...

Then it must have sync'd the Wifi password.

Like I said, it did prompt me to enter my wifi password during setup only after I unplugged my ethernet cable, but I dont even know my wifi password off the top of my head so I didnt enter it. Pulling the ethernet cord (to trigger a local install) made the installer bug out where the entirety of my display asides from the small window with network connections went black. It forced me to connect to internet to continue. The moment I plugged in ethernet, the UI stopped being black and it continued fine.