Network Protocol Missing in Windows 10, Solution.

Windows 10 is a robust and modern operating system that runs the latest network protocols to provide fast and secure connectivity. Unfortunately, sometimes you may face a networking error prompt with the message “network protocol missing in Windows 10.” The good news is all about fixing this crucial Windows sockets registry error.

How to Fix Network Protocol Missing Windows 10 Error?

Network protocol error could prompt a different error report based on the underlying problem. Luckily, all these different versions of Windows protocol errors are easy to fix. They all have one simple solution.

But before we go ahead and explore the solution and registry sockets hacks for this Windows Vista and 10 error, take a quick look at some common protocol missing problems. Remember, they all mean you need to use the solution provided in this article to fix the error.

1. One or more network protocols are missing on this computer
2. Network protocols missing
3. Windows 10 network protocols missing
4. Restore network protocols to default settings for the internet connection to work again
5. Windows sockets registry entries required for network connectivity are missing
6. One or more network protocols are missing on this computer
7. Could not add the requested feature
8. Network protocols missing WIFI

So whatever the Windows system or registry errors you see from this list in Windows 10, the solution is the same. Follow the steps below and you won’t be seeing this error in the future.

Disable NetBIOS to Solve Network Protocols Missing

Network protocol missing and registry error in Windows 10 is annoying but it’s not difficult to fix. You can disable NetBIOS on your computer and the error will go away. You will be able to browse the internet and download files again without any networking issues.

To disable NetBIOS in Windows 10, you don’t really need to visit a tech shop. Simply, follow the steps below and you can do it yourself.

1. Go to ‘Control Panel’ in Windows
2. Click on ‘Network and Internet’
3. Go to ‘Network Connections’
4. Now find ‘Network Adaptor’ and right-click on it
5. Now go to properties from the right-click options
6. Find IPv4 (TCP/IP) and click on it
7. Now find Properties and click on it
8. Go to Advance and go to WINS tab from there
9. Locate NetBIOS settings section
10. Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP
11. Finally, click OK to save settings

Sometimes, you can solve this issue by simply changing IP addresses to fetch ‘automatically’ in Windows 10. To change the IP address, find the relevant setting Properties tab in step 7 above.

Update BIOS to Fix Network Protocol Missing Windows 10 Error

One solution you commonly find tech forums is to update your Windows computer BIOS to get rid of any Windows protocol missing errors and to repair the registry. Apart from these errors, updating BIOS can also resolve many other issues with your PC socket registry entries related errors.

Before you flash and upgrade your Windows computer BIOS or make changes to registry sockets, it’s important that you understand what you are doing. It could be a risky activity and if anything goes wrong, it could easily make your motherboard useless.

Restore Your Router

Missing network protocol error can be fixed by simply resetting your wireless router so you don’t have to hack registry sockets for connectivity. You can also change the networking LAN cable to see if the connection problem could be due to a bad networking cable.

You don’t need to keep any backup so don’t worry about the existing settings. Here is how to restart your router as the first step in this solution.

1. Turn off the wireless router and take the electric plug out
2. Wait for a minute
3. Turn on the router

This simple restarting the router can solve the problem sometimes. However, you will often have to reset or restore the router to factory settings to fix the error. Here is how to do it quickly in Windows.

1. While the router is connected to the electric supply, turn it over
2. Locate a tiny button on the back that says ‘reset’
3. Press and hold this button to restore for a few seconds and the router will reset to factory settings
4. Connect to the internet now and the error will not appear again

The position of the reset button depends on the model of your wireless router. If you can’t locate it, refer to the operator’s manual that came with the router.

Use Command Prompt for Windows 10 Missing Network Protocols

If the above steps haven’t helped with the connection issues on your system, you can try Windows Command Prompt to resolve this common network error. Luckily, you don’t have to be a techie or a Windows system expert to work out this fix as we have listed all the steps below. Just follow along and you will be fine.

1. Go to Start and click on Run
2. Type ‘command prompt’ and press the Enter key
3. After the Command Prompt window shows up, type the following command netcfg -d and press the Enter key on your keyboard
4. Now restart your computer for the settings to take effect

Hopefully, this solved the error. If not, continue to the next solution.

Use Command Prompt and sc.exe

This solution to fix the connection errors is temporary as the Windows 10 network protocol missing error may show up again. Still, it’s a useful solution as it could actually fix this Windows 10 error and restore your Internet connection. And since Command Prompt is a built-in utility, you don’t need any third-party software.

Here are the steps.

1. Open Command Prompt with administrative access
2. Type the following lines carefully and be sure to hit the Enter key after each line:                                                                                        sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi                                                                                           sc.exe config mrxsmb20 start= disabled

Entering these commands in the Windows Command Prompt will usually fix this error and you can continue browsing the internet on your Windows system.

Since it’s a temporary solution, it will not work after you have updated Windows 10. Here is what you can do after the update to restore the previous settings to make this solution work again.

1. Open Command Prompt with administrative access
2. Enter the following lines and press the Enter key after each line                                                                                                                          sc.exe config lanmanworkstation depend= browser/mrxsmb10/mrxsmb20/nsi                                                                  sc.exe config mrxsmb20 start=auto

Restore Network Protocols to Default Settings

You can also fix this “Windows missing network protocol” error by simply restoring protocols to default settings in Windows 10 Home, Ultimate, and Pro. This restores socket registry entries which usually fixes the problem. To do this on your PC, simply replace the TCP/IP stack lists with a new version and the error will go away in most cases. Here are simple steps to get this done without any prior tech knowledge.

1. Click on Start Menu
2. Open Run
3. Type the command ‘command prompt’ and hit the Enter key
4. Once you see the command prompt window, enter the following commands and press Enter after each line c:/windows/system32/netsh<int<ip                                                                                                        c:/windows/system32/netsh<winsock

Import Winsock Keys from a Different Computer

Sometimes you need an advanced solution to fix this Windows error. One such solution is to import Winsock keys from another computer where you don’t see the error. Just make sure both computers have the same version of Windows.

This will repair the registry keys and get rid of the error.

Once you have replaced the registry and Winsock keys, everything should go back to normal.

Just make sure that you follow this solution closely. It’s an advanced registry repair solution and not following instructions carefully can create problems for the Windows registry.

1. Find a PC running Windows 10 and not showing any errors
2. Open Start menu and click on search
3. Type ‘registry’ and click on the Windows Registry Editor app from the search results to open registry app
4. Once the app loads, search for the following registry keys                         HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesWinsock     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesWinsock2
5. Click on export and copy the registry Winsock keys to a clean flash drive
6. Now switch back to your Windows 10 PC with network protocol error
7. Uninstall network drivers and remove both the above Winsock registry keys from Registry Editor in this PC
8. Now restart your Windows computer for registry changes to take effect
9. Once the computer restarts, insert the flash drive that contained the registry keys you copied from another Windows computer
10. Go to Registry Editor again
11. Now go to the location where you had those registry keys before you removed them and restarted your Windows PC
12. If you see the sockets registry keys again, delete them
13. Now import the sockets registry keys from the USB and close the Registry Editor after you see the new Winsock keys are there
14. Open Command Prompt as an administrator and run the following registry sockets command                                                                  Netsh winsock
15. Restart your computer for the final time for new Winsock registry sockets to take effect

That’s it. Now you should not see the error again after you have restarted the PC since you have replaced the sockets registry entries. If the error is still not solved, continue with the next step below.

Reinstall Your Network Adaptor to Fix the Network Protocols Error

To fix this Windows 10 connection error, you can also reinstall your network adaptor as its usually due to corrupted hardware profile.

This solution can help in some cases when the problem is being caused by a driver’s misconfiguration or a corrupt driver file. Follow the steps below for this solution.

1. Hold the Windows key and Press R on your keyboard
2. You will see Run prompt
3. Type the following command and press the Enter key Hdwwiz.cpl
4. In the window that comes up, expand Network Adaptors and right-click on your Ethernet card
5. Choose Uninstall from the options
6. Now follow the uninstall wizard and remove the adaptor drivers
7. After uninstallation wizard finishes, restart your PC
8. Once it starts again, install the adaptor drivers and restart your PC again

After you’ve installed the adaptor, everything will work fine as you’ve replaced the corrupt drivers. You won’t see the annoying network protocol missing in Windows 10 error.

Disable Your Antivirus

Sometimes, disabling your antivirus can fix the connectivity issues. However, we don’t recommend running a Windows 10 PC without an antivirus. It’s not safe and your data could be at risk. You should never download a file from the Internet if you have disabled the antivirus.

To disable the antivirus and fix the network protocol error, follow these easy steps.

1. Open your antivirus program by double-clicking it’s icon on your desktop
2. Disable it by going to Options/Settings
3. Restart your PC and see if the error comes up again
4. If you see the error again, simply reinstall the antivirus and disable network phishing feature from Settings.

Use Network Troubleshooter to Fix Network Protocol Missing in Windows 10 Error

Windows 10 operating system provides its users with many unique and new features. Network Troubleshooter is one such feature. This scan tool can easily diagnose and solve many configuration errors with speed. To use this feature to fix the protocol configuration issue, simply follow these steps below.

1. Go to Settings
2. Find Updates & Security section
3. Now click on Troubleshoot icon
4. A troubleshoot wizard will start and ask for the problem
5. Select internet Connections and one or more network protocols are missing on this computer
6. Now follow the instructions on the screen and provide your feedback to fix the error
7. Once the process is finished, restart your PC

Restore Network Components

You can solve the network protocols missing Windows 10 operating system error by simply resetting your network components. To do this, follow the steps below.

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator
2. Once the Command Prompt window shows up, simply enter the following commands and press the Enter key after each command IPconfig /release                                                                                                                                                                                        IPconfig /flushdns                                                                                                                                                                                        IPconfig /renew

Conclusion

You have seen many solutions to fix the network protocol missing in Windows 10 error in this guide. At least one of these solutions should solve your problem. You should be able to surf the Internet and download files without any errors or prompts. If you still face issues or have any questions, just reach out to the comment section below.