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My laptop is running XP SP3. I am not using any wireless router. Sometimes when I was doing my school homework using my Laptop, I would disconnect the machine from the Internet so that I could focus on my homework. But when I had finished the homework and I wanted to go online again, I found that I needed to reboot my machine even though I had already turned the modem back on.

I looked online for some insight into why I need to reboot. Some web pages told me that Windows is doing these steps for me during reboot:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

So, I tried to see whether or not they were telling the truth by typing the commands into the Windows Command Prompt.

But these commands didn't work for me, and I need to reboot my machine before I can reconnect to the Internet again.

Is there any software which can help me reconnect to the Internet without rebooting?

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  • 2
    How do you block the Internet? Have you tried looking at other methods, which might be easier to unblock? And finally, what error message do you get if any, when running the ipconfig commands? They do need elevated rights.
    – holroy
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 7:59
  • @holroy, I did not block the Internet. I turned off the MODEM to disconnect from the Internet.
    – kitty
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 11:21
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    Connect Windows XP to the Internet? Probably not a safe idea...
    – Thomas Weller
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 19:37
  • Why are you still using Windows XP?
    – unforgettableidSupportsMonica
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 1:58

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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From time to time I have the problem that my internet stops working after returning from standby. Instead of rebooting, I run a script (as admin) to disable and re-enable the used network interface, called reset-interface.bat:

netsh interface set interface INTERFACENAME disabled
netsh interface set interface INTERFACENAME enabled

You can get INTERFACENAME from ipconfig. In the following example the device name for your Ethernet adapter would simply be "Local Area Connection" (including the quotation marks):

cmd.exe showing output of ipconfig /all Source

These commands should be equivalent to going to Network Connections and disabling and re-enabling the network device you use for internet. Only that it's quicker with a script.

Mind you, this is on Windows 8.1. You should try your best to get away from the outdated and unsafe XP...

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  • Hi @quassy. I could not see any INTERFACENAME in ipconfig.
    – kitty
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 11:24
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    @kitty I have edited my answer to make it more clear, hope it helps.
    – quassy
    Commented Jul 30, 2015 at 12:42

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