Work from home is the new reality for many, issues with the internet connection is the last thing anyone wants to imagine. However, connection issues on Windows 10 machines can occur due to many reasons. Similar is the case with Windows can’t find communication with the device or resource error.
If you see this error popping on your screen right now, you may have already tried a few things to troubleshoot the issue. Unfortunately, the error can occur due to several reasons, including incorrect network configuration, and it can be hard to determine the exact cause.
This is a definitive guide explaining and troubleshooting this error for you step by step. Here’s are the things that we have covered in this article:
The error “Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource in Windows 10″ occurs when your system detects an issue with the Primary DNS server set by your ISP.
The system may run a network diagnostic to troubleshoot the connectivity issues resulting in the error above.
This error can be triggered due to several reasons, including incorrect IPv4 or IPv6 configuration, issues with the proxy server, and the DNS server address. Similar complaints can be seen on Reddit tech support and the official Microsoft forum as well.
As mentioned earlier, this error can occur due to several reasons, and the error message can vary depending on the situation. Here are some of the related error messages that you may see:
In this article, we take a look at a few troubleshooting steps to help you resolve the ‘Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource’ error in Windows 10.
This error is different from the network is not plugged in error, refer to the linked guide instead for detailed troubleshooting tips.
Incorrectly configured adapter settings cause the Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource (Primary DNS server) error.
While IPv4 provides an addressing capability of over 4.3 billion addresses, IPv6 is more advanced and offers more features.
Try changing and setting the IPv4 and IPv6 configuration in the Control Panel to see if that resolves the error.
Once you applied the changes, try to reconnect to the network and check if the error is resolved. If not, proceed with the next set of steps below.
DNS cache saves all the information that’s relevant for name resolution. However, at times corrupt or bad cache can trigger network-related errors.
An easy fix for this is to flush the DNS cache. This will force your computer to obtain fresh DNS data. Here’s how to do it.
Ipconfig /flushdns
Ipconfig /registerdns
Ipconfig /release
Ipconfig /renew
After the restart, connect to your network and check if the Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource Windows 10 printer error is resolved.
If not, read on…
Corrupted internet protocol configuration can result in network-related errors. TCP/IP is among the main components used by the Windows OS to establish a connection successfully.
In this situation, the corrupted configuration can prevent packet transfer. That said, using the TCP/IP reset utility, you can set it back to its default settings.
Netsh winsock reset
Netsh int ip reset
If resetting the TCP/IP did not resolve the issue, try performing a complete network reset. Windows offers a built-in feature to perform network reset.
Performing a network reset will reinstall all your network adapters and set other networking components back to their original settings.
You might need to reinstall other network software such as VPN client, etc.
Outdated and missing network drivers can also trigger the windows can’t communicate with the device or resource Windows 7 problem.
You can either update the network drivers from the official website or through the device manager.
Update via the vendor’s website
If you are using a laptop, then visit your laptop OEM’s official website and open the download center.
Choose your laptop model and enter other details required.
From the download center, check if you have any updates pending for the network devices, such as your ethernet or WiFi devices. Download all the pending updates and install them.
Alternatively, you can also use utilities like HP support assistant and Lenovo Vantage to install pending driver updates.
However, these are proprietary software, and if you don’t have one already installed, a quick search on the internet should help.
Update driver via Device Manager
If you don’t have an active internet connection to download the drivers, right-click on the network device in the Device Manager and choose Properties.
Open the Driver tab and note down the driver version.
Borrow a friend’s internet-enabled computer and open your laptop or network device manufacturer website and check if an updated version of the driver is available. Download and move the driver installer to your computer and then proceed with the installation.
Check for Windows updates
Microsoft allows the hardware vendors to push driver updates through Windows updates. These updates usually bring fixes for glitches and performance improvements.
The host file in Windows 10 is a plain text file that maps servers and hostnames to IP addresses. It can be configured to block IP addresses from communicating outside the network.
Strangely enough, modifying the host file seems to have resolved the windows can’t communicate with the device or resource wired connection error.
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
Instead of using the auto-generated DNS address, try using a public DNS. Public DNS servers such as Google DNS are fast and fully support most security protocols such as DNSSEC to protect user data.
Preferred DNS Server - 8.8.8.8
Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4
Once the changes are applied, reconnect to your network and check if you are able to use the internet without any error.
Malicious software can control how your internet works. Check if your computer is affected by a malware infection by performing a complete scan of your PC.
A full scan usually takes longer than a routine scan but is an effective way to find hidden viruses.
The scanning process may take some time to complete. Once completed, reboot the computer and check for any improvements.
If the error persists, check your router for configuration problems. If you have made any changes to your router, try to revert the changes and see if that helps. If not, try performing a power cycle.
Note: After you have reset the router, you would have lost all the saved network configurations. So, you will have to reconfigure your router for it to work again.
The Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource (Primary DNS server) error usually occurs due to incorrect network adapter configuration.
If changing the internet protocol settings does not help, try resetting the network from the settings. Also, check for malware infection and driver glitches to resolve the error.
Tried all the steps? Do let us know what fix helped you resolve the error in the comments.
You can also leave other tips that we may have missed but worked for you to help other users.
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