From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Taskbar notification network symbol gone & Network & Internet crashes

I admit I have no backup and I was overly confident in removing IPv6 on
Windows 10, where currently I have to glaringly obvious symptoms:
1. The Wi-Fi symbol is gone from the taskbar notification area
2. Win+I > Settings > Network & Internet crashes within seconds

I'm currently using a spare router as an ersatz Wi-Fi where the rest of
Windows 10 is working just fine. It's just the Wi-Fi that won't work.

It's not hardware because I swapped out the old USB Wi-Fi dongle.
Same thing.

It happens even without the Wi-Fi card installed & there's no Ethernet icon
in the taskbar notification area when I'm on the net with the router.

It's software, for sure.
DISM and scannow found corrupted files but that didn't solve anything.

I've uninstalled and re-installed the drivers a thousand times.
It's no big deal, but I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this?
--
Here on Usenet each of us have decades of experience messing up our OS.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Paul wrote:

You can try a Repair Install, using the same version of DVD as
"winver" tells you is currently running.

There is no guarantee that will fix it, but the hardware should be rediscovered, and maybe the TCP/IP stack will be returned to nominal conditions.

Even Repair Install has its dangers. I tried to Repair Install the
Test Machine a few weeks back, and as soon as the first phase reboot
was attempted, the machine "bailed" on the install... without cleaning up! And what this means, is every subsequent attempt to Repair Install,
will fail the same way. The cure for that, is to pretend to do a Repair Install, and bail out before giving it permission to proceed, and
when it says on the screen "cleaning up", it's actually cleaning up
the little mess that was breaking it.

Then, the next step, is you have to flatten the FAT32 ESP, and
repopulate it.

ESP repair:

format K: /fs:fat32 # use "diskpart.exe" to assign partition 1 the letter K:
bcdboot c:\Windows /s K: /f uefi # This rebuilds the K:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot folder and makes a new BCD

Paul

I moved Paul's helpful and kind advice from the other thread to here so
that others could find it in the future when they search for the same
rather strange symptoms (I'm on the net using a router as a bridge).
a. There is no icon for networking in the notification area, and,
b. Windows 10 settings crashes when opened to "Network and Internet".

For the record, I found some threads on those exact symptoms.
Wifi symbol isn't on task bar and Network & Internet settings closes down after opening, how do I fix it?
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/3963065/wifi-symbol-isnt-on-task-bar-and-network-internet>

Network and Internet Settings Missing
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5766656/network-and-internet-settings-missing>

How to fix wifi icon not present in network and internet settings
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-ca/answers/questions/1803118/how-to-fix-wifi-icon-not-present-in-network-and-in>

Some suggestions in those threads, but I've done most of them long ago.
Repair System Components (DISM + SFC)
a. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
b. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
c. DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
c. SFC /Scannow
Mine found corruptions and fixed them, but it didn't change a thing.

Run msconfig
a. Select Selective startup
b. Uncheck Load startup items
c. Hide all Microsoft services -> Disable all
d. Restart

Create a New Local Administrator Account
a. net user USERNAME PASSWORD /add
b. net localgroup administrators USERNAME /add

Reset Network Stack
a. ipconfig /release
b. ipconfig /renew
c. ipconfig /flushdns
d. ipconfig /registerdns
e. netsh int ip reset
f. netsh winsock reset
h. netsh winhttp reset proxy

In-Place Upgrade / Repair Install (Media Creation Tool)
a. Download Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
c. Choose Upgrade this PC now
d. Choose Keep files and applications

Re-registering Settings app packages
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Get-AppxPackage *windows.immersivecontrolpanel* | Reset-AppxPackage

Reinstalling all built-in Windows apps
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Checking for corrupted registry entries under:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Settings\Network --
Here on Usenet each of us have decades of experience messing up our OS.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Maria Sophia wrote:

Re-registering Settings app packages
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Get-AppxPackage *windows.immersivecontrolpanel* | Reset-AppxPackage

Trying these, one by one, and documenting the results so that others will benefit, Reset-AppxPackage apparently does not exist in Windows 10 or
Windows 11 PowerShell. It apparently only exists in Windows Sandbox /
Windows PE internal builds, not consumer Windows.

This is apparently a better command for Windows 10 and 11 users.
Re-register the Settings app
Get-AppxPackage *immersivecontrolpanel* | Foreach { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" }

Reinstalling all built-in Windows apps
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

This gives me errors, but the command is apparently the correct syntax.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] b19babe2-178d-0000-e319-a2b18d17dd01
in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID
b19babe2-178d-0000-e319-a2b18d17dd01
At line:1 char:37
+ ... s| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.I ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (C:\Program File...ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-A
ppxPackage], Exception
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.
AddAppxPackageCommand

This may be a better fix.
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Foreach { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" }
Get-AppxPackage *networkux* | Foreach { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" }

But even so, this folder does not exist:
C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.NetworkUX_8wekyb3d8bbwe
There is nothing reported when I run a search for
dir C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.NetworkUX_*
But there are plenty of other folders in that area:
dir C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Wind*
The list shows many Windows system apps, but NetworkUX is missing.

Apparently NetworkUX does the exact things that are broken:
1. draws the network icon
2. shows Wi-Fi and Ethernet status
3. opens the network flyout
4. integrates with the taskbar
5. connects Settings > Network & Internet
6. handles network notifications

So I think Rufus/MCT are in my future.... :(

Checking for corrupted registry entries under:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Settings\Network

How do you check for corrupted entries?
Most registry entries are gibberish to a human eye.

Checking for corrupted registry entries under:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Settings\Network

Seriously. How do you check for corrupted entries?
Most registry entries are gibberish to a human eye.
I guess we're supposed to look for and identify
a. Missing keys
b. Empty keys
c. Keys with obviously invalid paths
d. Keys pointing to missing DLLs or EXEs
e. Keys referencing missing SystemApps folders
But that's probably an exercise in futility.

Note that it is not simply a missing inf file...
a. netvwifibus.inf
b. netvmini.inf
c. netwtw06.inf (Intel)
d. bcmwl63.inf (Broadcom)
f. rtwlane.inf (Realtek)

I need to download the MCT and use Rufus to make a repair flash.
<https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10>
a. Media Creation Tool
b. Upgrade this PC now
c. Keep files and apps

Note that this will wipe out *everything* in C:\Program Files which is a
key reason I install *nothing* in directories that Microsoft knows about.

All my installations are in C:\apps\{archivers,browsers,cleaners,etc.}
To recover from the media creation tool is easy when you install
nothing into the directories that Microsoft expects things to be.
--
I strive to add technical value, if possible, with every post to Usenet.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Maria Sophia wrote:

Apparently NetworkUX does the exact things that are broken:
1. draws the network icon
2. shows Wi-Fi and Ethernet status
3. opens the network flyout
4. integrates with the taskbar
5. connects Settings > Network & Internet
6. handles network notifications

OMG. I think I suddenly (unfortunately, belatedly) figured it out!
Funny how networking truth shows up only after the mess is made.

I'm documenting it here for future people who have the same issue.
a. No network icon in the taskbar notification area, and,
b. Win+I > Network & Internet crashes within seconds every time.

Looking back in my gory copypasta logs for how I wiped out NetworkUX,
I am pretty sure this sequence is what removed the Wi-Fi device.

This was dangerous...
pnputil /remove-device "PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A..."
But this was catastrophic...
pnputil /delete-driver netathrx.inf /uninstall /force

When I removed the Wi-Fi driver package with /force, I think
Windows attempted to remove dependent and related packages
one of which must have been Microsoft.Windows.NetworkUX_*.

So, I think the damage came from the combination of
1. Enumerating the Wi-Fi device
pnputil /enum-drivers
Qualcomm Atheros 802.11 a|b|g|n Dualband Wireless Network Module
Driver Name: netathrx.inf
Instance ID:
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_1000168C&REV_01\4&1a388ce3&0&0038

2. Removing the Wi-Fi device
pnputil /remove-device "PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A&SUBSYS_1000168C&REV_01\4&1a388ce3&0&0038"

3. Uninstalling the driver package
pnputil /delete-driver netathrx.inf /uninstall /force

4. IPv6 stack destruction (I should have used hex 20 instead!)
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /d 0xFF

5. Resetting both IPv4 and IPv6 stacks
netsh int ip reset
netsh int ipv6 reset

6. Rebooting with missing routing & missing Wi-Fi driver metadata
That combination, I think, forced Windows to purge dependent networking components,
including:
a. NetworkUX
b. OOBENetwork packages
c. NetworkConnectionFlow
d. immersivecontrolpanel dependencies
e. ShellExperienceHost networking hooks
f. Edge legacy system package
g. CBS servicing metadata
h. RPC endpoint mapper entries
Because a dir of dir C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Wind*
shows multiple SystemApps folders vanished, not just NetworkUX.

Apparently, there is one and only one fix when that's gone.
I walked the long way around, but at least I know the map now.
--
Sometimes the answer comes after the damage, not before it.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Sun, 7/19/2026 10:48 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Taskbar notification network symbol gone & Network & Internet crashes

I admit I have no backup and I was overly confident in removing IPv6 on Windows 10, where currently I have to glaringly obvious symptoms:
1. The Wi-Fi symbol is gone from the taskbar notification area
2. Win+I > Settings > Network & Internet crashes within seconds

I'm currently using a spare router as an ersatz Wi-Fi where the rest of Windows 10 is working just fine. It's just the Wi-Fi that won't work.

It's not hardware because I swapped out the old USB Wi-Fi dongle.
Same thing.

It happens even without the Wi-Fi card installed & there's no Ethernet icon in the taskbar notification area when I'm on the net with the router.

It's software, for sure.
DISM and scannow found corrupted files but that didn't solve anything.

I've uninstalled and re-installed the drivers a thousand times.
It's no big deal, but I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this?

Try a Repair Install, with no promise it will improve the situation.
But it's a standard recommendation when you're in a tight spot.

Take a backup first, of what you've got. Then do the Repair Install.
If "winver" tells you that you are on 22H2, then you would use
your 22H2 DVD to do the Repair Install. Run the Setup.exe on the
DvD. A preferred way to do it, is use the ISO9660, right click it
and "Mount" the ISO as a virtual DVD drive, then run the Setup.exe
off that to kick off the Repair Install. It will tell you it
is keeping all user files and programs. Normally, the Windows Installer
is very good at cleaning up after itself (if an install fails it
rolls back). Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

With Windows, you should be collecting the DVD images. Every time
a new one comes out (21H2, 22H2...) you keep a copy. Then, if you
need to do a Repair Install, you have the file for it. I don't
have all the releases of everything, but I have somewhere around
a terabyte of OS images here, on various storage devices. And then
I have to search through my collection, for the right "BeeGees
Greatest Hits" to load in the DVD drive :-)

As for "asking a lot of questions after the Repair Install is done",
the Repair Install does not do that. If may mess with the Widget
Setting and you may find the Weather listed on the task bar, or
see some irritating remnants on a lock screen. But that's normally
about it for side effects. Maybe the Notifications settings
will "need your attention", as otherwise their advertising setting
may have become enabled again.

Paul
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since Win98SE.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his
life.
(Jeremy Thorpe, 1962)
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since Win98SE.

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all partitions.

I plugged in a Win2K CD one day. I started doing a side-by-side
install, then decided to cancel it. Well, it was too late, the
CD had erased the MBR and its partition table :-) That was the
one time, that when I used TestDisk, it scanned the device
correctly and crafted a new MBR that was perfect. I might
have had to put 440 bytes of boot code in there too (as TestDisk
does not do that part). I was able to completely salvage the drive,
so no real serious harm had happened. And that is one of the
few times a Windows disc "took hostages".

Whereas on Linux, I had Debian erase all the other Linux on a disk,
and there was no recovery on that one.

So anyway, if you have three Linux on a disk, you're adding
a fourth and it is Debian... then back up the whole disk drive.
Because you know what a hostage taking situation is like, very
messy. And later, if the install attempt does not damage
anything, you can toss that backup file after a few days.

It's pretty hard, to keep a disk drive around, with enough
room to back up an entire other disk drive. I have plenty of
experience of "spending a day moving crap around until I have
enough room". That drives me nuts. And the bigger the HDD get,
the longer and longer the house cleaning takes. And with the
price of HDD today (July price is double the January price),
it's not like I can run out and buy another.

*******

Losing the MBR is not the end of the world. Losing
the GPT partition table(s) is not the end of the world either.
If you know the starting address of a partition,
you can still access it. You can access it enough to copy it.
A Linux loopback mount has an offset parameter, which gives
you the necessary "starting address" capability.

It is when evil software writes to your partitions on
purpose and damages them, *that* is when you'll be wishing
you backed up the D: data partition. If you were doing an experiment,
like introducing malware onto a disk drive that had C: and D: ,
you would definitely back up both C: and D: and later, before
restoring, you would zero the drive from end to end. That's to
ensure there are no hidden materials before you do the restore.
The last cylinder is a good place to hide "stuff".

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kuat$147il$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since Win98SE.

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all >partitions.

This isn't a side by side install, it's a repair/reinstall of the OS.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Did you know on the Canary Islands there is not one canary?
And on the Virgin Islands same thing, not one canary.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 7/20/2026 6:53 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kuat$147il$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since Win98SE. >>>

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all partitions.

This isn't a side by side install, it's a repair/reinstall of the OS.

Correct. And for that, making a backup of C: and the ESP partition,
that would be a good start. If you like a working WinRE, you can
back up your Recovery partition too. You don't need to back up D: ,
as D: getting hit by a bus, is less likely to happen during a Repair Install. The approach the install uses, does not endanger materials outside
the area of interest. It's Clean Installs or Side-by-Side installs,
where there is a "tiny" risk, as indicated by my having two or three
disks wiped in twenty years of doing this stuff. That's what a tiny risk is.

If D: were important to you, you already are making infrequent backups
of it, like every three months, snapshot your D: so you don't
lose everything on it.

A Repair Install does not necessarily re-pave the BCD file. It
modifies something in there enough, for the four phases of install
and booting the right thing on the first reboot.

And if you have to, you can *format* the ESP (FAT32 EFI System Partition)
and rebuild it yourself. It's not actually that hard to do. Now that I've
done one this year. Some commands only affect the BCD file itself, but
there is one command which will re-fill K:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot with materials. You have to use a Reagentc Recovery Recipe to refill K:\EFI\Microsoft\Recovery with materials (called PBR or Push Button Reset, for WinRE).

When you boot a Macrium Rescue CD, Macrium already has a drive letter
assigned to the ESP partition. That's not particularly important, and
that saves you a minute doing that mapping manually. And that doesn't
use the letter K: . I use the letter K: in a lot of my recipes, as
an indication of a "temporarily assigned drive letter for a recipe".
Other people or things don't care about K: particularly. This is
what I mean by K: , spelled out.

diskpart.exe
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 1 # The ESP
assign letter=K # Now, the ESP is K:
exit

After we're done that, this is restoring your boot materials K:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot ,
so you can at least boot again.

format K: /fs:fat32 /Q # A quick format of the K: partition. Boot now broken.
bcdboot c:\Windows /s K: /f uefi # Boot now fixed. Any additional fix, can be via EasyBCD 2.4
# or by yet another bcdboot command (with different params).

I haven't done the experiment, but the SuperGrub disc, may be able to
chain load a Windows, if you've damaged the ESP. I should probably
put this test case on my TODO list.

https://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/super-grub2-disk-stable/

https://sourceforge.net/projects/supergrub2/files/2.06s4/super_grub2_disk_2.06s4/supergrub2-classic-2.06s4-multiarch-CD.iso/download

Name: supergrub2-classic-2.06s4-multiarch-CD.iso
Size: 24,905,728 bytes (23 MiB)
SHA256: D26EE9CDA990051FBE4C2B367659DF5156A130A7ADA29F0B4FB0E65928D8EBAB

Not every possible mode works on that, but it's worth a shot when
you think your world has ended :-) I find it much much easier to repair
an OS, if I can boot into it. It's much easier than finding offline options
for a fix.

[Picture] USB-Tethered-SSD-Boot.jpg (actually, depicts operation of SuperGrub2)

https://imgur.com/a/fCKwAl9

https://postimg.cc/DmvKNttQ

Paul
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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 20/07/2026 in message <113l0hu$14tt6$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 6:53 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kuat$147il$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since >>>>Win98SE.

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all >>>partitions.

This isn't a side by side install, it's a repair/reinstall of the OS.

Correct. And for that, making a backup of C: and the ESP partition,
that would be a good start. If you like a working WinRE, you can
back up your Recovery partition too. You don't need to back up D: ,
as D: getting hit by a bus, is less likely to happen during a Repair >Install.

Very poor advice. Have you never installed Windows only to have it unable
to find its install drive when it tries to boot?
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do or
say nothing. (Edmund Burke)
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Mon, 7/20/2026 7:30 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113l0hu$14tt6$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 6:53 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kuat$147il$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote: >>>>>

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since Win98SE.

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all partitions.

This isn't a side by side install, it's a repair/reinstall of the OS.

Correct. And for that, making a backup of C: and the ESP partition,
that would be a good start. If you like a working WinRE, you can
back up your Recovery partition too. You don't need to back up D: ,
as D: getting hit by a bus, is less likely to happen during a Repair Install.

Very poor advice. Have you never installed Windows only to have it unable to find its install drive when it tries to boot?

Yes, I have, and I've also fixed that,

Inaccessible Boot Volume can be fixed two ways.

1) Safe Mode. Safe Mode recomputes the driver scheme and figures out
which driver should be used. Later boots, may be relying on this
determination. It's up to you to figure out how best to enter
Safe Mode. I have my own method for this. In the page here, my computers
boot via the black ("WinXP") menu, not the blue Lozenge menu.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/22455-enable-disable-f8-advanced-boot-options-windows-10-a.html

You need a way, sometimes, to get booted, and the SuperGrub2 is worth
a shot if nothing else is working. But having access to Safe Mode is
an important part of resolving these cases. You need a way of getting
to Safe Mode, any day of the week. Plan ahead.

2) Booting into Safe Mode and using the Boot Bus Extender byte, may fix
the situation as well. That's my recent USB Tethered SSD experiment, where
the OS boots off a USB path. There is a single Registry byte needing an
edit for that. I got lucky in a Google, and found a paragraph with the details.

To make Windows load the USB drivers sooner:

Press WinR, type regedit and hit Enter
Enter HKLM\SYSTEM\HardwareConfig\ in the address bar at the top
On the left, choose the entry with the UUID of the boot partition
Change BootDriverFlags's value to 14 (hexadecimal) [instead of 0x00]

Paul

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From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 20/07/2026 in message <113l6tl$16v3s$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 7:30 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113l0hu$14tt6$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 6:53 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kuat$147il$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote:

On Mon, 7/20/2026 5:13 AM, Jeff Gaines wrote:

On 20/07/2026 in message <113kofj$12f3b$1@dont-email.me> Paul wrote: >>>>>>

Having a safety backup of C: before the run, is
just standard practice with software...

Or whatever drive your data is on of course, "D" in my case since >>>>>>Win98SE.

If doing side-by-side installs, you back up the whole device, all >>>>>partitions.

This isn't a side by side install, it's a repair/reinstall of the OS.

Correct. And for that, making a backup of C: and the ESP partition,
that would be a good start. If you like a working WinRE, you can
back up your Recovery partition too. You don't need to back up D: ,
as D: getting hit by a bus, is less likely to happen during a Repair >>>Install.

Very poor advice. Have you never installed Windows only to have it unable >>to find its install drive when it tries to boot?

Yes, I have, and I've also fixed that,

Inaccessible Boot Volume can be fixed two ways.

Again you are missing the point. You really should stop trying to
replicate Google in here.
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
Every day is a good day for chicken, unless you're a chicken.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Maria Sophia wrote:

Apparently, there is one and only one fix when that's gone.

UPDATE:

Don't do this sequence (which I did when trying to rip IPv6 out of Windows)
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 0xFF /f
pnputil /remove-device "PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A..."
pnputil /delete-driver netathrx.inf /uninstall /force

The result is a catastrophic loss of IPv4 routing on the Wi-Fi interface.
It resets the Wi-Fi stack and forces Windows to rebuild routing tables.

Specifically, by disabling IPv6 at the registry level and forcibly removing the Atheros Wi-Fi driver, the subsequent pnputil /force step permanently
wiped out the Wi-Fi networking stack.

When Windows attempted to rebuild routing tables, because the networking
stack was completely gone, the OS could not restore IPv4 routing for Wi-Fi.

As a result both Wi-Fi and VPNs were completely & permanently dead.
Wi-Fi didn't work because it depends on a ton of things now removed!
a. NetworkUX
b. OOBENetwork packages
c. NetworkConnectionFlow
d. immersivecontrolpanel dependencies
e. ShellExperienceHost networking hooks
f. Edge legacy system package
g. CBS servicing metadata
h. RPC endpoint mapper entries
VPN didn't work because the connection depends on the OS routing table.

For a temporary workaround, I used a spare router as a wireless bridge,
which only required Ethernet connectivity between the desktop & bridge.
a. The PC connected via Ethernet to the bridge
b. The bridge connected to my SOHO router Wi-Fi AP
c. Psiphon provided the IP obfuscation while Wi-Fi routing was broken

Ethernet works because it's simple & Psiphon worked because it bypasses the
OS routing table by creating its own tunnel & forwarding logic.
netsh interface set interface "wlan0" admin=disabled
netsh interface set interface "eth0" admin=enabled
netsh interface ipv4 set address name="eth0" static 192.168.1.15 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
netsh interface ipv4 set dns name="eth0" static 1.1.1.1
netsh interface ipv4 add dns name="eth0" 1.0.0.1
netsh interface ipv4 show dnsservers
netsh interface ipv4 show config name="eth0"
netsh interface ipv4 show config
netsh interface ipv4 show dnsservers
ping -n 1 192.168.1.1
ping -n 1 1.1.1.1
ping -n 1 www.google.com
wmic nic where (NetEnabled=true) get Name, Speed
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/1MB.zip
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/10MB.zip
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/100MB.zip
speedtest.exe (from <https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli>)
route print -4
ipconfig /all
psiphon.bat

This kept me online long enough to perform recovery using the MCT Media Creation Tool & Rufus to create a MBR (BIOS + UEFI) recovery USB stick.

AFAIK, there are only two solutions since the stack cannot be re-installed.
1. Revert to a previous known-good restore point
2. Create a Windows recovery flash, boot & recover

Once I had the Wi-F back up, I could revert from Ethernet back to Wi-Fi.
netsh interface set interface "eth0" admin=disabled
netsh interface set interface "wlan0" admin=enabled
netsh interface ipv4 set address name="wlan0" static 192.168.1.16 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1
netsh interface ipv4 set dns name="wlan0" static 1.1.1.1
netsh interface ipv4 add dns name="wlan0" 1.0.0.1
netsh wlan connect name="my.ssid_nomap"
netsh interface ipv4 show dnsservers
netsh interface ipv4 show config name="wlan0"
netsh interface ipv4 show config
netsh interface ipv4 show dnsservers
ping -n 1 192.168.1.1
ping -n 1 1.1.1.1
ping -n 1 www.google.com
wmic nic where (NetEnabled=true) get Name, Speed
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/1MB.zip
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/10MB.zip
curl -o NUL http://speedtest.tele2.net/100MB.zip
speedtest.exe (from <https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli>)
route print -4
ipconfig /all
vpn.bat

These steps are useful for anyone to save into their debugging checklist.
--
Sometimes, ripping the heart out of WIndows isn't always a good thing.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 20/07/2026 03:48, Maria Sophia wrote:

removing IPv6 on Windows 10

Just do:
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v "DisabledComponents" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

From an elevated command prompt.
--
Brian Gregory (in England).
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 27/07/2026 00:56, Brian Gregory wrote:

On 20/07/2026 03:48, Maria Sophia wrote:

removing IPv6 on Windows 10

Just do:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v "DisabledComponents" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

From an elevated command prompt.

Oh. I forgot. After that you must reboot before it takes effect.
--
Brian Gregory (in England).
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Brian Gregory wrote:

removing IPv6 on Windows 10

Just do:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v "DisabledComponents" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

From an elevated command prompt.

Oh. I forgot. After that you must reboot before it takes effect.

Hi Brian,

Thanks for adding value since all this IPv6 stuff is brand new to me.

Since I try to make all my Usenet posts useful to many people, this command will tell each of us what our IPv6 preferences are at this very moment:
reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6
reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents

Just so you know, had I known NOT to use hex FF for the TCPIP6 parameters,
I would likely have been able to "just do" what you said to remove it.

What you suggested partially disables IPv6 on a Windows machine.
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters" /v "DisabledComponents" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
What that does, as far as I'm aware, is it changes Windows' preference
to prefer IPv4 over IPv6, but it does not disable IPv6 entirely.

What I did, by mistake, was use hex FF, which completely disabled it.
0 IPv6 fully enabled (default)
1 Prefer IPv4 over IPv6 (IPv6 still works)
0xFF Disable IPv6 completely
0x20 Disable IPv6 on all non-tunnel interfaces
0x10 Disable IPv6 on all tunnel interfaces

My problem was that I had set it to hex FF, which
a. Disables all IPv6 components
b. Disables all IPv6 interfaces
c. Disables IPv6 on all adapters
d. Disables IPv6 tunneling (6to4, ISATAP, Teredo)

Then, to make things worse, I had deleted the "drivers" (where these
drivers are critical components of the Windows operating system.
pnputil /remove-device "PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_002A..."
pnputil /delete-driver netathrx.inf /uninstall /force

That combination caused Windows to purge dependent networking components,
a. NetworkUX
b. OOBENetwork packages
c. NetworkConnectionFlow
d. immersivecontrolpanel dependencies
e. ShellExperienceHost networking hooks
f. Edge legacy system package
g. CBS servicing metadata
h. RPC endpoint mapper entries

This is why my taskbar notification area lost the networking symbol.
Had I known how dangerous those commands are, I wouldn't have run 'em.

Luckily, rebuilding Windows via a Rufus/MCT MBR flash fixed it.

But nothing else (other than a restore point) would have worked.
(Ask me how I know this.)
--
Sometimes, what we should have known all along is only learned later.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

To ensure we're always adding value for everyone in every thread, its
useful to note that Windows users can see IPv6 preference settings using:
reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6
reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters
reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents

What happened to me, was I set that to FF and then removed the drivers.
That wiped out the networking stack for Wi-Fi & taskbar hardware icons.

Don't do that.
Ask me how I know that.

The moral of the story is that, for most Windows users who wish to set the machine to prefer IPv4 over IPv6, the correct registry setting is:

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters /v DisabledComponents /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Then, as Brian Gregory suggested, reboot.
--
It's OK to be wrong as long as we're open to learning what's right.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2