My computer shows that it's connected to Wi-Fi or Ethernet, but several apps and websites won't work. Chrome reports that internet access is blocked, and Discord won't open or update. Other devices on the same network have normal internet access. I've already reset things, disabled my firewall and VPN, and checked that the firewall appears to be working normally. The problem started after I downloaded some Skyrim mods and added them to Vortex, although the mods never worked. Could this be a malware issue, or is there another Windows network setting I should troubleshoot before doing a hard reset?
3 Answers
Open Command Prompt as administrator and check the connection with ipconfig /all. Confirm that you have a valid IPv4 address, gateway, and DNS server. You can then try ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew, ipconfig /flushdns, netsh int ip reset, and netsh winsock reset, followed by a restart. Running a reputable malware scan is also worthwhile, particularly because the issue appeared after installing mods.
A virus is not the most likely explanation, especially since the other devices on your network work normally. Try Windows’ built-in network reset first. It can reinstall the network adapters and restore the default networking settings without requiring a full system reset.
The exact error message matters here. Since Chrome says access is blocked, check whether your network adapter or a Windows service was disabled. Reinstall or roll back the Wi-Fi/Ethernet drivers, make sure airplane mode is off, confirm the adapter is enabled, and verify that the WLAN AutoConfig service is running.
Chrome specifically says my internet access is blocked, and Discord also refuses to open or update.