Windows 10 DNS Issues Continue, Despite Microsoft's Fix

Last week, Microsoft said that the Windows 10 DNS issue experienced by many users was resolved. However, a week later, users continue to claim that they still can't access the update service for their operating system. Microsoft has acknowledged that the DNS issue may still be affecting some users until the DNS changes have been propagated to all affected DNS servers.

Windows 10 DNS Issue

Last week, many Windows 10 users that tried to update their operating system were prompted with the error message: "We couldn't connect to the update service. We'll try again later, or you can check now. If it still doesn't work, make sure you're connected to the Internet."

Some users discovered that they could bypass the issue by changing their DNS server addresses in Windows from automatic to specific third-party DNS servers, such as those from OpenNIC, Cloudflare or Google.

Microsoft said that the Windows Update service was impacted by a data corruption issue with an external DNS provider. The company didn’t give anymore details other than that and it did not name the DNS provider that may be at fault. However, the issue seems to have impacted multiple internet service providers (ISPs) around the world, including ISPs from the U.S., UK and Japan. 

Windows 10 DNS Issue Continues

Microsoft also claimed that the issue was resolved the same day it was first reported (January 29); although, it didn't explain how exactly. But a week later, some users continue to report, on places like Reddit, issues with accessing the Windows 10 update system.

In its statement this morning, Microsoft acknowledged that some users may continue to experience problems when trying to access the Windows update service until the fix that was pushed last week has propagated to all the malfunctioning DNS servers. However, until the DNS issue is completely fixed for everyone, you may want to use a third-party DNS server

Lucian Armasu
Lucian Armasu is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers software news and the issues surrounding privacy and security.
  • redgarl
    Please MS, keep going with your automatic forced updates... it is really working wonders.
    Reply
  • exp.builderchick
    MS has always sent out buggie software. Then they fix it afterwards. I've learned not to blindly update my Win OS. I wait for the fix first. Way back in the day...2000 I called it plug and pray. That still applies. exp.builderchick
    Reply
  • corey8921298
    It is not a DNS bug. It is a feature. Someone is protecting the world from Microsoft's forced updates.
    Reply
  • drbogdan
    FWIW - had this Windows 10/home (version 1809; build 17763.292) Update problem with three Dell Computers (xps 8930/8900/5770laptop) the other day (01/30/2019) - all PCs on Comcast internet - problems are now all Solved by MS Technicians (via MS Chat/Remote Access) who seem to have performed several procedures, including updating to the Google DNS server (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and flushing the DNS cache (possibly via "ipconfig /flushdns", and afterwards, "ipconfig /registerdns") - hope this helps in some way - in any case - Enjoy! :)

    Dr. Dennis Bogdan
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Drbogdan
    Reply
  • chicofehr
    So windows 10 is still in beta? I don't remember windows 7 or 8 ever having this many technical problems. Microsoft should slow down on the feature updates and fix the bugs first. All they are doing is constantly breaking windows with all these unnecessary updates. Stability and reliability is way more important. I think Microsoft has made a update quota and rushing unfinished updates to keep up with it.
    Reply
  • Math Geek
    the insider builds are pretty much worthless as they skip that step rather often now and just blindly throw things into the wild.

    someone needs to remind them about what the insider program is supposed to be for and how obvious it is that they need to use it more effectively.
    Reply
  • Ruedii
    I guess M$ is too stupid to add a fallback dedicated DNS for their update service.

    Go figure, considering the other aspects of the quality of their software and customer service.
    Reply
  • Ruedii
    I'm not surprised that Microsoft can't figure out how to put in a dedicated fallback DNS for when the user's preferred DNS fails.

    Considering the state of their software and customer service, this shouldn't surprise anyone.
    Reply
  • 2Be_or_Not2Be
    A lot here are blaming MS, but as the article states: "Microsoft said that the Windows Update service was impacted by a data corruption issue with an external DNS provider. "

    So it's not Microsoft's problem, but they were affected. My guess is that the external DNS provider was either attacked or experienced a DNS-poisoning attack. You can imagine what kind of damage could occur if someone could poison DNS for Windows Update, or even push out a modified update to all Windows Updates users. It may not be a state actor here, but it's possible.
    Reply
  • UFO42
    Tried all kinds of alternate DNS servers including 1.1.1.1 9.9.9.9 8.8.8.8 and now a couple of local DNS servers in the Vancouver BC area. Problems continue regardless of which DNS servers I use. Sitting on the F5 key for 30s or more usually gets me to the desired page, but it is a huge pain in the ass. Often an image or video embedded in a page will pop up with that "Site can't be located" message. Hitting Try Again on that sometimes works. It seems completely random. Sometimes, the problem seems solved, then a few minutes later, getting to the same site that worked fine a few minutes earlier gets hit with that Try Again screen.
    Reply