Blame This Windows 10 Error for Your Recent VPN Problems
If you’re having network connectivity issues on your Windows desktop or laptop – and you’ve ruled out user error or poor wireless connection – there’s a small chance that Microsoft might be to blame. There is a bug affecting users connecting to proxies or VPNs and it is serious enough to ensure that Microsoft releases an unscheduled update to fix the problem.
As Microsoft originally described :
Devices that use a manually or automatically configured proxy, especially with a virtual private network (VPN), may display limited or no Internet connection status in the Network Connection Status Indicator (NCSI) in the notification area. This can happen when connecting or disconnecting from a VPN, or after a state change between the two. Devices with this problem may also have problems accessing the Internet using applications that use WinHTTP or WinInet. Examples of apps that might be affected on devices in this state include, but are not limited to, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office, Office365, Outlook, Internet Explorer 11, and some versions of Microsoft Edge.
But here’s the catch: Microsoft leaves it up to you to decide whether you need an emergency update or not. If the network connectivity issues sounds like what is described by Microsoft, then you may want to consider installing an update outside of the team that fixes the problem. Here are all the different updates and the different versions of Windows to which they apply:
- Windows 10 version 1909 ( KB4554364 )
- Windows 10 version 1903 ( KB4554364 )
- Windows 10 Version 1809 ( KB4554354 )
- Windows 10 Version 1803 ( KB4554349 )
- Windows 10 Version 1709 ( KB4554342 )
To install the update, simply visit the Microsoft Update Catalog and find the correct update for your version of Windows (or click one of these KB links and scroll down to find the link to the Update Catalog for that specific update if you don’t want to manually search ). You will most likely need an update for an x64 (64-bit) or x86 (32-bit) system, and you can check which one you have installed by clicking the Start menu and choosing Settings> System> About the program”:
If you don’t want to fiddle with manual updates, your best bet is to stay there. I am confident that Microsoft will soon include this fix in a larger Windows update given its seriousness.