#BugAlert: Windows 10 is messing with internet connectivity
Microsoft's Windows 10 has been plagued by a myriad of issues, and now, the Redmond giant has acknowledged another severe bug in the operating system. The company has officially confirmed that Windows 10 May 2020 Update suffers from a glitch that affects internet connectivity, rending several apps on the platform unusable. Here's all you need to know about it.
Bug shows bogus connectivity error
The glitch in question, first reported by Windows Latest, shows a bogus connectivity error on the Wi-Fi or Ethernet icon (depending on what you use for accessing the internet) on the system tray. It shows a yellow-colored triangle on the icons, indicating that there is no internet access, even when the connection is actually healthy and working at normal capacity.
This creates problems with accessing apps
As the warning is bogus, you can still continue to browse the web using Chrome, Firefox, or other browsers. But, apart from that, all other Windows 10 apps that need internet connectivity can't function. The reason? They base their connectivity on the status of Windows 10 and if the OS says there is no connectivity, the apps don't even try to connect.
Several popular apps impacted
A number of apps have been affected by this glitch, including built-in services like Cortana, Microsoft Store, Windows Feedback Hub, and third-party programs like Spotify. The complaints regarding this issue are also pretty widespread, with many users claiming they could not fix it by rebooting their PC, resetting the router, or reinstalling the network wireless adaptor.
Microsoft says it is investigating
A Microsoft engineer has said on a TechNet forum that the company is aware of the glitch and is investigating it, but has not found a patch yet. However, some affected users have suggested a workaround where modifying the "EnableActiveProbing" registry and restarting the PC solves the issue. It is not confirmed but may help dodge the bug until the official fix rolls out.
How to modify the registry?
To try the workaround, look up and launch 'Registry Editor' via Windows Search. Next, navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet". From there, go to "Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet" and select "EnableActiveProbing" from the list. There, change the default value data from 0 to 1 and click 'Ok'. Now, close the registry editor and restart the PC to apply the workaround and remove the false connection warning error.
