Problem after updating to Windows 10 1703

[treysis]

Sure. There you go:

devmgmt-network.png (24.77 KiB) Viewed 11042 times

Is that what you mean with "adapter settings"?

adapter-settings.png (22.49 KiB) Viewed 11042 times

[Martin]

Did you start the device manager via 'devmgmt.msc' from the same commandline where you did a 'set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1' first?

[treysis]

Yes, I did.

[treysis]

Hm. No idea?

[treysis]

So I wasn't just making up a problem?! It is really there. But always good to first talk someone down and put him as stupid.

[socratis]

You were told more than once where to look for. More than once. Windows, not VirtualBox. You seem to be stuck with the idea that somehow it's a VirtualBox problem. I will repeat it once more; it's not a VirtualBox problem, treat it as such.

The easiest thing you could try? Select the connection and press F2. Rename the connection. Done. And honestly, is this something besides a cosmetic error?

[treysis]

Yes, it is more than a cosmetic error. Because all my scripts need adjustment. Okay, it's not really a problem and just a minor glitch, but still a bug. Renaming the interface doesn't change it. It will still be referred to by "#2". There's also no trace of the first interface in the Windows registry. Therefor, I am convinced, it must be something with VirtualBox. I've had this "issue" with "#2" before for different interfaces. They were easy to rename, because they were listed in the device manager (-> show hidden devices) and they had records in the registry. Unlike this somehow "hidden" VirtualBox interface now.

So, I looked everywhere in Windows, it's not there. See my screenshots for verification.

[socratis]

it must be something with VirtualBox. I've had this "issue" with "#2" before for different interfaces.

These are two contradicting statements.

So, I looked everywhere in Windows, it's not there.

OK, try the following. Open 'regedit'. Navigate to:

Computer
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    SYSTEM
      CurrentControlSet
        Control
          Class
            {4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

You should have a list of adapters. My VirtualBox adapter is at number 0015. Here's what (part of) it looks like:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0015]
"NewDeviceInstall"=dword:00000000
"NetCfgInstanceId"="{6442D9CC-9F92-4B5F-A489-9067EAF93EBA}"
"*IfType"=dword:00000006
"Characteristics"=dword:00000001
"*MediaType"=dword:00000000
"*PhysicalMediaType"=dword:0000000e
"NetLuidIndex"=dword:0000000c
"DeviceInstanceID"="ROOT\\NET\\0000"
"InstallTimeStamp"=hex:e1,07,04,00,02,00,12,00,13,00,34,00,08,00,eb,00
"*NdisDeviceType"=dword:00000001
"BusNumber"="0"
"ComponentId"="sun_vboxnetadp"
"InfPath"="oem14.inf"
"InfSection"="VBoxNetAdp6.ndi"
"ProviderName"="Oracle Corporation"
"DriverDateData"=hex:00,00,e4,b8,d6,b7,d2,01
"DriverDate"="4-18-2017"
"DriverVersion"="5.1.20.0"
"MatchingDeviceId"="sun_vboxnetadp"
"DriverDesc"="VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter"

You could also search for "sun_vboxnetadp". Before installing VirtualBox you should not have that key. After installation you should have only one key, with the proper description. If not, change the value.

[treysis]

it must be something with VirtualBox. I've had this "issue" with "#2" before for different interfaces.

These are two contradicting statements.

No, they are not. The issues before were not with VirtualBox interfaces. It was for a Bluetooth or WiFi interface, where I removed the hardware, and later installed a different one. Therefor different names. Removing and renaming the new ones was easy. Because it worked exactly in the descriptions provided in the links. Or via F2.

And here also an update: When I try to rename the adapter from the "Network Connections" window with F2, I get the following message:
"Cannot rename this connection. A connection with the name you specified already exists. Specidy a different name."

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0015]

Yep. I know this registry key and I have been there before. It only shows the one with "#2" (under key "0006"). There's none with without a number. Renaming the one with "#2" doesn't seem to have any effect. VBox, "Network Connections", and "netsh" all still list this interface with "#2" in the name. Also, uninstalling VBox, then manually removing these keys, then reinstalling VBox doesn't change anything.

[treysis]

So, whether this is a Windows issue or a VBox issue, I cannot tell.

I uninstalled VBox, searched the whole registry for anything related to VBox and deleted it. Uninstalled the drivers. Deleted all .sys and .inf files related to VBox. Rebooted. Still, if I try to rename any network adapter to "VirtualBox Host-Only Network", Windows complains that there is already an interface by this name. I tried to find other ways to hidden devices, but no luck. I'm really out of ideas. I think I just gotta live with it now.

[Alexmagicaroma]

I had the same problem, but I solved, then I now explain how.

After I upgraded Windows 10 to 1703 I lose my 2 Host-Only Network Adapter.
When I tried to re-create it, Vbox create for me the Virtualbox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter #3. Then I understand the previuos 2 original adapter was hidden in the system.
So I delete all references of my original Virtualbox Host-only adapter into the registry (backup the reg keys before delete it)
After a completed clean the problem wasn't solved.
So I used ProcessMonitor (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sys ... nitor.aspx) to see where the vbox application looked up into the registry when it create a new Host-Only Adapter.
In this manner I found that vbox application lookup into this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkSetup2\Interfaces
Unfortunately this Registry Key and its subkey are only grated to access to : TrustInstaller and NetSVC..
To avoid change Ownership and permissions , I used this fantastic tool to rus Regedit as TrustedInstaller https://github.com/jschicht/RunAsTI
THen I was able to perform a cleanup of previuos NICs.

After an Accurate cleaning of registries keys , I SOLVED!
I hope this article is useful

[socratis]

Since your post reminded me, I found another gem that you may want to check: Device Cleanup to remove unused devices from your computer.

[vbaddict]

Alexmagicaroma, your workaround has been most useful, thanks a lot !
I was struggling with the same problem of hidden "Virtualbox Host-Only Network Adapter" after windows creator update. After reading this long thread, thanks to you, I could find easily the remaining key under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkSetup2\Interfaces" and erase it.
The procedure I followed :
1/ uninstall virtual box
2/ Open regedit with RunAsTI64, find the folder containing a key "Virtualbox Host-Only Network Adapter" in \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkSetup2\Interfaces\ and erase it with
3/ reboot and reinstall virtualbox
4/ recreate my primary Virtualbox Host-Only Network Adapter

[Kaliatech]

I had same issues as OP and the solution originally posted by @Alexmagicaroma resolved it.

In my case, I could not use RunAsTI, but I could use psexec ("psexec -i -d -s c:\windows\regedit.exe"). That allowed me to take ownership of the key so that I could finally delete the old virtualbox adapter.

I was running VirtualBox 5.1.22 when Windows Creator Update was installed and caused original virtualbox adapter to become completely hidden and un-removable. I uninstalled and upgraded to virtualbox-5.1.26 while trying to debug this. This issue is caused by Windows update, but I suspect it could affect a number of VirtualBox users.

[mfriedrich]

You were told more than once where to look for. More than once. Windows, not VirtualBox. You seem to be stuck with the idea that somehow it's a VirtualBox problem. I will repeat it once more; it's not a VirtualBox problem, treat it as such.

The easiest thing you could try? Select the connection and press F2. Rename the connection. Done. And honestly, is this something besides a cosmetic error?

I have the same problem. The issue is that on Windows if software does not follow MS specs may corrupt things in Windows. So, your arguments are just plain unproven.
Rather than talking people down as stupid, you should really try working with people to find the cause, be it in VirtualBox or in Windows or somewhere between.
My problem also showed after upgrading Windows 10, but i am not sure if they were present even before.

Now, after deleting the adapter in the device manager there seems to be something left behind.
Installing VirtualBox afterwards shows "Cannot rename this connection. A connection with the name you specified already exists. Specify a different name." error. Even if it fails, it shows that (non-working) adapter in the Host Network Manager, which is weird, as it failed and should have not created an entry.

Please note, VirtualBox seem to have bad error checking here, i noticed that trying to create a host-only adapter may just hang, or it may return "An adapter with this name already exists" after minutes. In case of errors it seems to leave partially created adapters around.

But the tip with the registry is good, i will check this.

(i noticed this is a rather old post, but seem to be good information for me anyway - and seems to be relevant for VirtualBox 6.0 too).