SOLVED Remove "ghost" network adapter?

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Having an issue trying assign a static IP to my computer. When I try to set it in the adapter properties it tells me that ip address is in use by a Realtek adapter. except I don't have a Realtek adapter, mine is a Rivet Killer LAN.

When I use the Troubleshoot problems -Network Adapter from the Control Panel-Network & Internet I get a box asking me which adapter- Ethernet (the Killer LAN) or Ethernet 2 (which I'm guessing is the "ghost" Realtek). The troubleshooter can't ever find any problems.

I enabled Show Hidden Devices in the Device Manager but the Realtek isn't listed.

Any hints on finding it in the registry?

System- ASRock Z170 Fatal1ty Gaming K4 motherboard, i7-6700k, 16Gb DDR4, Win 10 Pro x64 (in place upgrade from 8.1).

Sam
 

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If it's not in Device Manager after showing hidden devices, then it is probably not on your system, but try....
Right clicking the Start Button and choosing run and in the run dialog box type
ncpa.cpl
hit enter or click OK
what do you see there?
If it's not thee either, then it's not on your system.

Is it possible that the message is simply telling you that another network node with a Realtek adapter installed, already has that IP address.
And, wouldn't it be simpler if you just chose a different static IP and save the aggravation and frustration.
 
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No there isn't anything with that ip address showing in the devices listed on my AC68P router.

My old motherboard had a Realtek LAN port on it. When I upgraded my system a few months ago (board, cpu, memory) I just swapped the hardware in, deleted the Realtek LAN stuff via the Control Panel (removed in the device manager and programs & features) and Win 8.1 loaded fine, didn't even have to do the phone reauthorize.
I did the upgrade to 10 a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I was checking something in the router and saw my computer now had a DHCP address instead of the static I had assigned it. Checked the device manager, saw the Realtek was back in there, deleted it there and from System-Apps.
But when I go to assign the old static ip address it had before (192.168.1.7) it says that that address is assigned to the Realtek. If I give the Killer LAN any other static IP it seems to work but some web pages won't load. I set it back to DHCP and it works fine.

So my theory is somewhere in the registry there is something saying that Reakltek is still in the system and assigned that IP address. Just don't know how to find and remove it.:(

EDIT: the Ethernet2 is the Express VPN but I only use that when transferring files. Don't know where Win 10 is getting there is a Realtek in my system.

Sam
 
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Wasn't in the arp cache but I flushed it anyway. Tried to ping that address from another computer, can't find that address, destination not found I think was the result.

Sam
 

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It seems to be a bit drastic for such a simple problem but I guess you could try rebuilding the winsock catalog and the IP Stack and see if that gets rid of it.
Right click the Start Button and choose Command Prompt (Admin) and in the command prompt window type
netsh int ip reset C:\resetlog.txt
hit enter
then type
netsh Winsock reset
hit enter
reboot the computer
See if that helps at all.
 
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That did it, thank you very much. Didn't get around to trying it until today.

Sam
 

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Didn't get around to trying it until today.
Better late than never. Thanks for the follow-up post. Glad to hear that you managed to resolve your issue.
Much appreciated.
 

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