“6to4” Network Adaptor Removal

March 19, 2017
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"6to4" Network Adaptor Removal

If you ever find your self having issues getting connected to a network, one of the more obscure but common causes may lie within the Microsoft "6to4" adapter devices. These are hidden devices that assist in connecting to networks that use both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing (at least from everything I have read and heard, although I have not yet found a definite answer on their true purpose). They seem to cause problems in some cases, and they can accumulate quite quickly in your Device Manager, causing potential problems while booting the machine and while trying to connect to a network. I have seen a machine with over 156 of these useless devices sitting in the Device Manager! In this article, I will show you how to find and remove these devices, and how to automate the removal process if you have a large number of them.

Step 1: Viewing the 6to4 Adapters in Device Manager

In order to determine if the 6to4 adapters are causing problems, you must first identify if you have any of them on your system. In order to do so, you must open the Device Manager, and then set it to show you the hidden devices. If you already know how to open the device manager, then you may skip to # to see how to view the hidden devices.

How to Open the Device Manager and view Hidden Devices:

  1. Click on the Start button and then right click on "Computer" (My Computer in Windows XP)
  2. Select "Properties"
  3. In Windows Vista or 7, Click on "Device Manager" in the panel on the left. For Windows XP, click the "Hardware" Tab and then click the "Device Manager" button
  4. In Device Manager, click on the "View" menu and select "Show Hidden Devices"
  5. Expand the "Network Adapters" option, and you should see all Network Adapters, if you have any 6to4 adapters, they will be there listed as "6to4 Adapter or Microsoft 6to4 Adapter"

Step 2: Removing the 6to4 adapters

Once you have viewed the hidden 6to4 adapters in the Device Manager, you may want to remove them if they are causing problems. From my experience and things I have read, this will have no adverse effect on your connection unless you are on a purely IPv6 network and have a network driver that does not support IPv6 (with a newer computer, this is highly unlikely).

How to Remove the 6to4 Adapters from Device Manager

  1. Right click on the desired 6to4 adapter
  2. Select "Uninstall"
  3. Click "Yes" to remove the device from the System
  4. Repeat for every 6to4 adapter in the list