Windows 10 Update KB3201845 (DHCP issues)
Microsoft pushed out the new cumulative KB3201845 update for the Windows 10 release channel yesterday that delivers a range of fixes for the operating system.
Note: It seems that the update is not the cause for the connectivity issues, as some users, including Günter Born, experienced the same issue on machines without the update.
Update: Microsoft employee John Wink revealed that the issue was caused by a service crash that broke DHCP.
A service crash that broke DHCP. The correct mitigation was/is a restart (not shutdown/reboot, but start - power - restart). Friday's update mitigated by triggering such a restart, but today's update has the actual fix.
Reports are also coming in that the update is causing Internet connectivity issues for some users (DHCP issues). I experienced the issue first hand when my mother told me yesterday that she could not access the Internet at all on her Windows 10 laptop.
I had to manually change the local IPv4 IP address for the network adapter to fix the issue. Uninstalling KB3201845 should have the same effect but I have not tried that yet.
Update: Microsoft published a banner on the Windows 10 Update History page that provides a solution. According to it, you need to restart (not shut down) the PC to fix the issue.
Question is, who is going to open the update history page before they install updates? (Thanks Woody)
The update was released to Insider versions of Windows 10 in November but the issue was not reported, at least not in the numbers that it is reported right now.
Windows 10 Update KB3201845
Here are the direct download links for KB3201845
The update history for KB3201845 does not list any fixes or changes to Internet connectivity or networking in general.
- Improved the reliability of mobile device management (MDM) disenrollment, Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), Peripheral Component Interface and PowerShell.
- Addressed issue that causes excessive battery drain if you have a Chinese Input Method Editor installed and use Windows Hello to log in.
- Addressed issue with OLE drag and drop that prevents users from downloading a SharePoint document library as a file.
- Addressed issue with Super Floppy-formatted fixed media devices that are not recognized by Windows 10 Anniversary Update or accessible in Windows Explorer.
- Addressed issue that causes the System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) client to fail installation when a device is re-imaged using the SCCM task sequence.
- Addressed issue that causes the loss of optional component (OC) state information, including all Hyper-V virtual machines, after upgrade.
- Addressed issue that causes Windows Explorer to display information that’s inconsistent with what’s stored on the Floppy disk.
- Addressed issue that, after connecting a shared CD/DVD-hosted drive with no media inserted, causes some of the commands, like DIR and NET USE, to hang.
- Addressed issue where customers cannot use directory cache sizes greater than 64 KB.
- Addressed issue where Windows Explorer sometimes does not prompt for credentials when a user logs on using a Microsoft account.
- Addressed additional issues with application compatibility and Internet Explorer
As you can see, all fixes that have nothing to do with Internet connectivity.
The timing of release is puzzling as well. Microsoft will release the Patch Tuesday update next Tuesday, and the fixes, at least what is listed on the update history page, don't seem to warrant an early release.
Anyway, since KB3201845 has been released early, it is at least easier to pinpoint the Internet connectivity issue to the update.
If you don't need any of the fixes, you may want to block the update from being installed for the time being until Microsoft releases an update that addresses the issue.
For Chris Paris, Thank you so much for the information about the Logitech mouse.. it saved me. It worked & solved my lockup problem. Joyce H.
Reinstalling Windows 10 got us connected to the internet. Installing a Linksys AC5400 Router solved the weak wifi problem. Thanks for your many suggestions along the way.
We’ve been online with MS tech several long times with no success. Can we download the Windows 10 updates after the 9th of Dec (that caused the problem) on another computer which can get online, and then if that’s on a flash drive, can we update the problem computer in the hopes that will correct the problem and we can get on the internet? Larry & Lenore
Yep, I have a brand new computer, native Win 10 install. Got it Thursday, and friday morning was surprised to find updates being installed already.
After updates, it appears to have Internet, load Firefox…. nothing loads. Ok, clear cache, reboot machine. Nada.
Tried Chrome, tried Edge. Same thing.
Set husband on it. He ran the following commands:
net sh winsock reset
net sh int ip reset
Restart machine.
Worked for like 5 min. Turned off the machine and went back to the older machine. Today, I booted it up, and it seems to keep the static IP we already installed. Tried the to flush the dns as well. No joy.
My issue is fixed, by reinstalling Windows 10. It blew through the update that broke it this time without any issues.
I also upgraded to windows 10 pro to hopefully avoid this in the future.
How can I unsubscribe from notices now?
In our case all computers have internet access (wifi) but my wife’s (ethernet) which failed to have access after the Windows 10 update Friday night 9th of Dec. It’s a new computer she built. After several LONG tech calls from MS Level 2 during the week she concluded MS hadn’t a clue how to fix this. MS said her Intel Ethernet Driver 1218-V wasn’t Windows 10 compatible. This morning (18th) she receives a call from MS saying, “This is an emerging problem.” Hold down the Shift Key and turn off the computer and “wait a day and reboot.” I suppose some miracle will happen before tomorrow! (Makes no sense but we will let you know.) Thanks for your suggestions and helpful information. larry goodell for lenore goodell
I’m not a tech person, but I’m writing because that issue with the wifi not working is still ongoing and no one at Microsoft seems to fix it. I have researched article after article and cannot find a fix. I have done everything I could and my phone, printers and anything I use wifi for is non-working. I’m lucky I have my computer working with my ethernet. Can anyone suggest anything? Mr. Born above is correct. There continue to be many of us who did download KB3206632 with no success.
To sum it up – I’ve documented the “service crash that broke DHCP” mentioned by Microsoft employee John Wink, after the issue has been addressed in cumulative update KB3206632. See my English blog post “Windows 10 V1607: Update KB3206632 and the “no IP†fix – my findings” (http://borncity.com/win/2016/12/14/windows-10-v1607-update-kb3206632-and-the-no-ip-fix-my-findings/). On my machine I found a simple stack overflow as a root cause …
… but note, that there other people reporting, that cumulative update KB3206632, released 12/13/2016, did not fix the issue. They have the “no valid IP” issue after installing update KB3206632.
I’m fairly sure that this update is not responsible for the connectivity problems mentioned here because I’m 95% certain of what the cause is.
Firstly I, along with a fair few other posters here, successfully installed KB3201845 on 10th with the usual restart, so only some Windows 10 users have had their DHCP broken. That is exactly what a new variant of Mirai worm called TR-06FAILi has recently done to large numbers of mainly TalkTalk & Post Office customers. Not really ISP specific but has mostly targeted the D-Link DSL-3780 (standard issue of TT) and Zyxel AMG1302 routers to infect. Originally the advice was to manually set local IPv4 IP address for the network adapter, which the author mentions did work for him here. Now the ISPs claim to have sent out a fix and advise to simply reboot the router.
Admittedly this issue first surfaced a couple of weeks ago but has been ongoing and the update (or merely the subsequent restart) could conceivably have triggered the infected routers to break DHCP. It would be interesting to know how many of those posting here who were unable to connect were using one of those routers. I don’t normally believe in coincidence but in this case the update just happened to coincide with a wider issue.
2 1/2 days of frustration. My wife can’t get online after Friday’s Windows 10 update. She (we) must wait till Wednesday (14th of December) for a “Level 2” tech to call. Restart just goes around forever till you have to do a hard shut down.
Do you have any USB peripherals plugged in? (Wireless mouse, keyboard dongle, etc.)? If so, unplug those and reboot.
Thank you sooo much for the info about the Logitech mouse. It solved my lockup problem.
@Martin Brinkmann: The missing Internet connection isn’t linked to update KB3201845. It was also my first impression, as I wrote the blog post http://borncity.com/win/2016/12/09/kb3201845-changes-windows-10-v-1607-to-build-14393-479-trouble-with-internet-connection/. But I’ve had a machine with this issue, that wasn’t booted since September 2, 2016. I documented my findings so far within a blog post “Windows 10: Neues zum “keine gültige IP-Konfigurationâ€-Bug” http://www.borncity.com/blog/2016/12/11/windows-10-neues-zum-keine-gltige-ip-konfiguration-bug/ (currently only in German).
Günter: Thanks for your German link. Google translate with Chrome Stable does a good job translating it to English. I appreciate your documentation of your thought process.
Thanks Günter, I updated the article to reflect that.
this update causes internet connection problems, program lags/hangups. Uninstalled KB3201845 problems gone.
Can you tell me how to do an uninstall? Thanks
hi. my wife asks how do you uninstall KB3201845. cd you send a link or some indication? thank you (see my comment below). larry
netsh Winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
Should fix the issue temporarily too.
I received (KB3201845) on 11-29-16 as a Release Preview Insider. No difficulty downloading or installing the update. A restart was required without any subsequent connectivity issues. Thanking my lucky stars.
There is no consensus as to what caused the DHCP problem. There are mixed results from the different solutions that have been applied.
Uninstalling the MS update (which requires a restart) seems to have fixed it for several people and also not for many others. They still have the problem after the restart. A mere restart fixes it for some, yet not for others.
I see yet another suggests changing the power options that wakes up the WiFi Adapter..
Running these 2 commands from command prompt:
netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
Many with the problem claim that the above cmd works. Certain routers and ISPs are being blamed. IPV6 is being touted as the root cause.
To add to the ‘whodunnit’ mystery, I see that several users claim that they fixed the problem by switching to Google DNS Public servers.
we were told to flush DNS, reset Winsock, and NOTHING as of today is working . it’s disabling the LAC and now even though wifi connects it just does not work .
I had at least 20 unresolved calls the last 8 hours and on third shift-this doesnt happen. ALL the same IP address-ETH issues
I don’t think it’s this KB as I’ve had the issue on several machines that are in a WSUS environment where KB3201845 hadn’t been approved/installed yet.
netsh Winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
followed by a restart fixed my machines. Prior to that, assigning static IPV4 addresses had worked too.
I did the last comment’s two lines above, netsh…, and that solved issues on surface Windows 10. Problem happened BEFORE the windows update with that computer; there were no recent updates at that point to roll back. (I had come home to “the Internet has been out all day” only to log in immediately with my Windows 7 thinkpad. Windows 10 is a real pain to maintain. )
Once you use Windows Forever Beta 10 every update is a hazard since you can no longer manually pick/whether you want to in stall or not….
That’s why in Business Oriented Groups/Corporation Windows 10 is not suggested/recommended.
I had a bit of a different issue: ERROR: Insufficient free space on disk. 3GB wasn’t enough? lol
I went to reboot and voila, it applied the update despite the error message. Sigh….
If you only have 3GB disk space left on your boot partition, then yes, that is WAY too small. Best is to keep about 20 % free of the disk, or at least have double digits in GB free.
whoops.. 3TB not gig.
This whole “Hibernation hybrid shutdown” is a total pain the ass” Since this issue, I have gotten A LOT of people who have called me about the issue. When asked if they restarted their computer, they said, yes a Bunch of times. When asked how they restarted they say “I turned the computer off and t let it sit awhile and then turned it back on and I still have the issue” .. then I explained to them how a shutdown is not a restart. After restarting the issue was fixed.
Just today I got a call about this issue from a guy who first called the ISP help desk. He told them he turned the computer off and back on and it didn’t fix it. They never recommended he restart. They just walked him through some stuff and then sent a guy to his house. The guy checked his router and internet and connected to the router with his laptop. Then tried some things the customer’s laptop and said, must be a wifi card issue, call someone.
He calls me, I tell him the difference between a restart and shutdown on 8 /10 and he said: “Why didn’t the help desk know that after I told them I turned the computer off?” I said … I don’t know, I don’t think a lot of people know that a shutdown is not a restart.
we had the issue with two different customers today a computer restart did not resolve the issue. disabling fast startup and then restarting did however resolve the problem. So a system restart it seems wont always solve the problem.
I don’t blame them, many people I know are like that too. Even big company like Google is like that too, to restart a Nexus phone you need to power off and power back on again, there’s no restart option.
Both of my Windows 10 computers installed this update, and then asked to be restarted. I clicked to allow the restart immediately, and have had no issues. Are folks ignoring the restart request from the Windows 10 install, and then complaining about having problems? Or are they still having problems after clicking to allow the restart?
Did a restart had no Ethernet but wifi was working, was on the phone with Verizon and MS for 2 hours and got disconnected. I uninstalled update kb3201845 and restated my computer and its now working. Good Luck.
my computer shut down, went started up, all it does is spin and never gets to Windows. It tried to fix itself once, but could not and went back to the same window after trying to restart.
Do you have a Logitech wireless mouse that uses the little USB dongle? If so, REMOVE IT and restart. I had the same thing happen, and there was an undocumented conflict between a Win update and the Logitech drivers. So long as the dongle was inserted, it would only show the spinner screen. Removing the dongle boots normally, and should then work afterwards. This problem was so troublesome, I actually bought a new laptop before I figured it out.
Windows 10 home and pro users are beta testers. They help MS get the bugs out of the way for the paying enterprise users. So the issues you are seeing are normal and will continue with future updates.
I think Microsoft should add Aero glass on the tile bars… I get all you haters who hate on Aero glass, I think they should add it as an option for those who like it
this is why is recommended to disable automatic updates and install updates manually
Yeah, this is just turning into a real mess. Just turn it off go through the Microsoft Update Catalog.
Security Updates, only.
“my mother told me yesterday that she could not access the Internet at all on her Windows 10 laptop”
you’re really cruel martin
It looks like Fast startup option is not so good after all.
“Update: Microsoft published a banner on the Windows 10 Update History page that provides a solution. According to it, you need to restart (not shut down) the PC to fix the issue.”
Sounded like something from the Onion News Network.
I didn’t see this issue, perhaps because KB3201845 was automatically installed at about 2016-12-09 23:58 EST and at 2016-12-10 00:02 EST the notification area told me of the install. I initiated a manual restart instead of waiting for Windows 10 to do so.
A team of monkeys could do a better job than Microsoft.
While I get you’re trying to be funny…. a team of monkeys would scare the crap out of me if they were coding….
Perhaps not even the three wise monkeys, sometimes called the three mystic apes, considering they embody the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” :)
Microsoft’s burned though any good will by releasing these third rate cumulative updates, that require significant user effort tr fix. Amazingly stupid.
no it does not . I do ISP tech support and they have screwed up THOUSANDS of my customers Windows 10 machines
nah…. they will once they lose majority market share… they still have enterprise
They’re slowly losing us though. I’m about to revert this entire new fleet to windows 7. Can’t get DHCP on these windows 10 machines to save my life
Well deserved ill will on the consumer side will carry over to the enterprise side. It is often the same people burned as consumers who have to make decisions on the enterprise side. Granted there will be more inertia on the enterprise side but its the same people on both sides.
Just do a clean restart this will fix it.
You can also perform a clean restart by holding down the Shift key, then clicking Start, the power icon, then Shut Down. Don’t let go of the Shift key until the machine’s completely gone.
Bob I have been locked out of my dell running windows 10, I have reset my password as per this artical and still unable to get in.
It appears that Microsoft has shut me out of my machine and I cannot log on it. I am typing on a mac. . . . because the windows 10 update what ever it was has locked up my working machine. I am very disappointed. I cannot work and this is a new machine. one year old and thousands of dollars. . . . on all this equipment.
I thinking right now that Microsoft is the hacker.
Just a hint – you can try to activate the build-in account “Administrator”, to access your machine and create a new “helper” account.
Try the advices given within my blog posts here:
http://borncity.com/win/2016/12/08/activate-build-in-administrator-account-in-windows-i/
If that helps, you are able to login and create a local user account with administrator rights. This allows you to fix things and maybe revoke your ms account.