How TO Disable The Media Sensing In Windows XP

Media Sensing is a feature in versions of Microsoft Windows that not many people aware of.

In a Windows machine with Tcp/ip protocols, this feature automatically detects whether the network media are in a "link" state. Ethernet network adapters and hubs typically have a "link" light that indicates the connection status. Whenever Windows detects a "down" state, for example, cable unplugged, it automatically removes the bound protocols from that adapter until the adapter appears to be back up again.

Why disable?

In some situations, this feature also introduces issues. And again, because not many people aware of this feature, it is hard to find out what it really is and how to change it.

For example, some Windows users might have network card(s) with unstable link light. In this case, the link light on the network adapter is not reporting the status correctly even though the network card is still functioning. Windows would detect the changes of network status every once in a while, causing random and un-necessary protocol changes.

Another example, on some computers with multiple network adapters and multiple networks, and the users or administrators want to keep the networks completely separate; However, once an adapter goes down, Windows detects the failure and re-configure the protocols and might forward the network traffic to other adapters.

Little more?

This "Media Sense" feature basically updates the routing table depending on the new status of network adapters. With this, it is very much impossible to manually manage the network traffic since Windows keeps changing the routes automatically. Either you're in one of the above situations or you want to manage the network manually, follow the below procedures to disable this feature.

Use this trick at your own risk.

To disable the Media Sensing please follow the steps below to continue:
1. Open Registry Editor (Start >> Run >> type in "regedit" and press Enter)
2. Expand to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
On the right panel, right-click and select "New" >> "DWORD Value"

3. Rename the new value to "DisableDHCPMediaSense"

4. Double-click on the new value "DisableDHCPMediaSense" and edit the "Value Data" to "1"

5. Click OK and exit the registry editor, then restart Windows.