Windows: Unknown Public Network

Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson Last Updated: May 18, 2022

Software: Windows 7, 8 & 10 | Last modified on 2018-06-19

When trying to connect to a network through wireless or ethernet connections, only a public unknown network appears. This is the result of a missing or turned off Windows Event Log service.

[Solution 1] Reset the internet connection


  1. Open the Command Prompt (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin).
  2. Execute netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
  3. Execute netsh winsock reset
  4. Execute ipconfig /flushdns
  5. Execute ipconfig /registerdns
  6. Execute ipconfig /release
  7. Restart the computer.

[Solution 2] Restart the Windows Event Log service


  1. Open Run and execute services.msc.
  2. Search for Windows Event Log.
  3. Select properties and change the start-up type to automatic.
  4. Restart the computer.

Walter Isaacson
Written by

Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He is the author of 'Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu and on Twitter at @WalterIsaacson


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