The appearance of messages when establishing network connections or local connections between computers that the transmission medium is not available in Windows 7 or even in server versions of these OSs is a fairly common phenomenon. What it is connected with is difficult to say, because there can be many reasons. The following material proposes an examination of several typical problems and remedies. There are few options, but some of the proposed solutions still work, as they say, one hundred percent. But first things first.
Causes of the "Media Not Available" error in Windows 7 and other versions of the system
Usually the problem boils down to the fact that the wrong settings are indicated in the network or Internet connection settings. But this may also apply to the isatap adapter. “The transmission medium is unavailable” is just the same message that signals that the adapter itself is not working due to incorrect settings, absence or incorrect installation of network drivers (which is most common, although this may not be the root cause).
Less common are problems associated with physical wear or damage to network cards or patch cords. Here the question is purely technical, and not software at all. But let's leave physical damage aside, and dwell solely on the settings of the operating systems themselves, especially since their use in most cases allows guaranteed to fix the situations that arise with the manifestation of failures of this type.
Media is not available: ipconfig is not working
To get started, so as not to deal with complex settings, you should try to use the built-in troubleshooting tool. For example, on the network or Internet connection icon, you see a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark. This is the first sign of inoperability of the selected device.
Using the RMB menu, select the diagnostic and troubleshooting tool, and then follow the instructions of the running “Wizard”. It is possible that the cause of the failure will be determined and eliminated (although, by and large, you should not particularly count on this). In general, most of the utilities developed by Microsoft specialists do not resolve problems with operating systems. The only more or less workable tool is Microsoft FixIt. But even for the most part it is focused on fixing problems with the Update Center, and not with network connections.
But let's focus on the ipconfig tool. Media is not available. What to do? If computers located on the network either from the central server or from any other terminal do not ping, reset and update the settings. Two commands are used for this:
- ipconfig / release;
- ipconfig / renew.
But this may not work, and again a warning appears that the transmission medium is not available. What to do in this case? Alternatively, you can try to reduce the connection speed, for example, to 10 Mbit / s in the settings of the network adapter, and at the same time indicate the use of Full Duplex-based mode, if supported.
Isatap drivers
But most often to blame for the fact that the transmission medium is not available, the tunnel adapter. Apparently, the problem here is the drivers.
To make sure that this is precisely the reason, go into the standard “Device Manager” (devmgmt.msc), look for the corresponding network component there and see if the icon with a yellow triangle and an exclamation mark is on it, which indicates that the device is inoperative.
If this situation occurs, update the drivers through the appropriate right-click menu bar or the property section. If this does not help, completely remove the device and reboot the system. When restarted, it will install the most suitable drivers automatically.
However, sometimes you may encounter additional problems associated with the fact that the transmission medium is not available. The isatap tunnel adapter may not work only because Windows installs the most suitable driver, and not the one that is required for a particular device.
In such a situation, it is better to use programs to automatically update management software such as Driver Booster or install drivers from the latest DriverPack Solution package.
Teredo Tunnel Adapter
Exactly the same problem can be observed in the case of activation of two tunnel adapters in the system. It is possible that the drivers of the second device should also be reinstalled.
If conflicts occur already at the device level, you should use one thing, and not include them in parallel.
IPv6 Protocol
There is another point related to the situation when the user or administrator is trying to check the state of the medium (the transmission medium is not available). Here the problem may consist in the simultaneous use of TCP / IP protocol of the fourth and sixth versions.
The fact is that not all (even European) providers provide IPv6 support. This is corny due to the lack of DHCP servers of the sixth modification. As a solution to the problem, you can advise disabling the use of this protocol in the properties of the network adapter.
IPv4 Settings
But it also happens that even when IPv6 is disabled, the system gives a notification that the data medium is not available. Why? After all, only IPv4 is used as the main one.
Here the main problem is the settings. In most cases, it is customary to set automatic receipt of addresses of all types (a gateway and a subnet mask are also not required to be manually set). The way out of this situation will be manual adjustment of the parameters. Try specifying IP for the current terminal with the ending as the value “100”.
If you use multiple routers, the “Media Not Available” error may also appear. Alternatively, try changing the wireless connection from one device to another. In addition, quite often you can meet problems when communication can be restored by simply rebooting the main device with a complete reset. Disconnection from the mains is carried out for a period of approximately 10-15 seconds.
Alternative settings
Finally, when the system message says that the transmission medium is unavailable, the reason may be that the automatic settings of the DNS servers (preferred and alternative) do not work.
In this case, you should use free configurations, for example, from Google. Data entry options are mainly based on the use of combinations of eights and fours. After setting these parameters in the properties of the IP protocol of the fourth version, save the changes and restart the computer system or central server. It may well be that this will give the expected result.
Full reset
If nothing helps at all, and the system insists that the transmission medium is not available, try using a full reset of the configuration.
To do this, you will have to use the command console, the start of which is done exclusively on behalf of the administrator and execute the following commands in it, taking into account the reset of the socket parameters:
- netsh interface reset all;
- netsh winsock reset.
Please note that in this case, starting a command line with admin rights is a prerequisite. If you log in as a regular user, the system will report that the execution of this command is impossible, or it is not found.
If we approach the issue of reset, when both the fourth and sixth versions of IP are supported, the following combinations can be used as commands for each of them:
- netsh interface ipv4 reset;
- netsh interface ipv6 reset.
Finally, one of the universal solutions to resolve the problem is to use the “Device Manager”, in which you need to find and remove all devices that are at least somehow related to “6to4” (converting protocol data from the sixth version to the fourth). It is possible that they do not work correctly.
After a reboot, the system will try to correct the situation by installing the appropriate management software and the priorities followed.
A few words in the end
It remains to add that the above methods in most cases eliminate the described problem. If for some reason it is impossible to perform operations, you can recommend that the system boot in safe mode, but be sure to support network drivers, otherwise everything will be a waste of time.
As for the description of the root causes, here you will not immediately guess what exactly the problem consists of. Before making a decision on troubleshooting, first of all, check the status of network adapter drivers. Then focus on protocol settings. And only in the most extreme case, reset the settings (and if several machines are connected to the central server, as you already understand, such actions will have to be performed on the server and on the child terminals). However, there is nothing particularly complicated here.
You can try to use another completely non-standard option. Try to install some optimizer utility (for example, Advanced SystemCare, but only the Pro version) and set the Internet connection optimization in the process. It is not a fact, of course, that such corrections will work, however, sometimes the use of such tools can give a result. As they say, an attempt is not torture ...