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In a moment where your internet has been working well, you might feel disappointed if it starts misbehaving. If you browse the web regularly, you might encounter the “Windows cannot communicate with the device or resource” error.
You might think that something is wrong with your internet service provider. However, that’s not always the case.
The issue could be that your PC is not able to connect to the Primary DNS server.
Read Article: The Requested Resource Is In Use – How To Tackle
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What could be the cause of your computer failing to communicate with the device or resource?
There could be several reasons resulting in this issue as listed below:
- A clash with the network settings
- Incompatible network adapter driver
- Running a proxy server
- IPv6 OR IPv4 isn’t correctly configured
- Temporary unavailability of the DNS server you are trying to reach
There might be several other causes, but the ones we have mentioned are the most common. In this post, we have shared various solutions to this issue.
Related Reading: Windows Resource Protection Could Not Start Repair Service Error – 4 Simple Fixes
Solution 1: Reinstall Network Adapter
Issues with the network adapter driver can cause Windows to be unable to communicate with the device. Reinstalling or updating the network driver could solve this problem.
The reinstall option could be the best at this time as your PC cannot access the internet. Below are the steps to follow.
- Press on Windows +R and type the characters devmgmt.msc then hit OK.
- Enlarge the Network adapter
- Go to the installed driver and right-click it then chooses Uninstall Device
- If you are asked for confirmation, click yes
- Uninstall the driver completely by restarting Windows
- In case of Windows doesn’t install, open your Device Manager, followed by Action and choose scan to get hardware changes
You can also use a different PC. Download the most recent adapter driver. Install the driver manually by running setup.exe. You can then restart your PC and confirm whether it still has internet connection issues.
Solution 2: Change the IPv6 and the IPv4 Settings
IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol Version 6 while IPv4 is Internet Protocol Version 4. The IPv4 offers you the addressing capability of about 4.3 billion addresses.
However, the IPv6 is an advanced version with better features than IPv4. This means that it can provide endless numbers of addresses.
You can solve your connection issues by changing both settings of the IPv4 and IPv6. Below are the steps to follow.
- Click Windows + R then type Control panel and press Enter
- Choose Network and Sharing Center from the window you moved to
- This will lead you to the network your device is connected to. Click on the available network in front of connections as it appears
- Click on Properties at the bottom of the popping window
- Double click the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
- You can set both of them to “Obtain DNS server address automatically” and “Obtain an IP address automatically”.
- Save the changes by pressing OK.
- You can then go to then click on “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)”. Do the same procedure as you did in the above steps.
- Save the changes by pressing OK then exit. Confirm if the device can connect to the internet.
Solution 3: Use the Command prompt to Reset Connections settings
You are having problems connecting to the internet because the settings might not be configured the right way, or the files might be corrupt. Here is another solution that will make your PC flush out the DNS and IP configurations.
Below is how you can reset them and solve this problem.
- Press Windows + R then type “Command prompt” inside the dialogue box.
- Right click on the application then click “Run as administrator”.
- Perform the following commands one at a time.
Ipconfig/flushdns
Ipconfig/registerdns
Ipconfig/release
Ipconfig/renew
- After the above commands, close the command prompt and restart your PC.
- Confirm whether your computer can access the internet. If not, you might want to try the following solution.
Solution 3: Restart your Router or Modem
The “Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource” error could arise from saving your router in a wrong configuration. First of all, try restarting the router.
If this doesn’t work, you could opt to reset it manually. Below are steps to follow to reset the router.
- Take your router and turn it back to make all the sports face you.
- Search for the button called “reset” on the back of the router. You might not get this button because most routers don’t have it.
Be careful not to reset it to factory defaults accidentally.
- You should instead use any thin stuff such as a pin to press inwards in the direction of a hole that says “reset”.
- Reset the router to connect your PC to the Wi-Fi network again.
Take note that after manually resetting your router, it won’t have the name of your Wi-Fi and any password. All the settings by your internet service provider will be removed.
Conduct this method only if you have the settings of your ISP.
Solution 5: Set Google’s DNS
Have you tried the above methods yet you still can’t access the internet? You could try to set Google’s DNS manually. Let’s use the following steps.
- Click the Windows icon of your computer
- On the start menu, find the Control Panel then click Enter.
- Organize view mode to large icons
- Enter Network and Sharing centre
Click “Change the adapter settings.” - Right click your network and choose Properties
- Choose the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
- Click Properties
- Choose “Use the following DNS server addresses.”
- Set your preferred DNS server as 8.8.8.8
- Save the changes by clicking, OK.
Restart your computer to confirm if the issue has been resolved.
It’s almost impossible to use your PC fully without using the internet. You might want to share files through email, make video calls or use search engines.
The “Windows can’t communicate with the device or resource” error shouldn’t be an issue anymore. As you can see, there are many solutions to sort it out.
