DNS Client Service is one of the most important services for getting access to internet on your Windows system. The service caches the queries of the servers you frequently visit and is also responsible for the DNS resolution of these servers. The Windows OS allows you to start and stop the service as per your wish through the Service manager.
However, sometimes users may find that the Start and Stop options in the right-click menu is grayed out preventing them to enable or disable the service.
Fortunately, there are a couple of ways you can enable the DNS Client service if grayed out in your Windows 10 PC. Let’s see how.
Method 1: Using the Registry Editor
Before you proceed to make any changes to the Registry Editor, make sure that you create a backup of the registry editor settings, so that, in case of any data loss, you can recover it easily.
Step 1: Press Win + R shortcut keys together on your keyboard to open the Run command.
Step 2: Now, type regedit in the Run command search box and press OK to open Registry Editor.
Step 3: In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the below path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Dnscache
Go to the right side of the pane, look for Start DWORD and double-click on it.
Step 4: It will open the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialogue box. Go to the Value data field and set it to 4.
Press OK to save the changes and exit.
*Note – This will disable the DNS Client Service. If you want to enable it, then set the Value data field to 3 instead.
Now, exit the Registry Editor and follow the process as shown in “How to stop the DNS Client Service” above to enable it back again. Simply go to the Service manager window, right-click on DNS Client and select Start.
Method 2: By Enabling the DNS Client Using System Configuration
Step 1: Press Win + X keys together on your keyboard and select Run.
Step 2: It opens the Run command. Now, type msconfig in the search field and hit Enter.
Step 3: In the System Configuration window, go to the Services tab and check the box next to DNS Client from the list.
Press Apply and then OK to save changes and exit.
This will enable the DNS client service. If you want to disable the service, simply uncheck the box next to it.
Method 3: Using the Command Prompt
Step 1: Right-click on Start and select Run to open the Run command.
Step 2: In the Run command window, write cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys together on your keyboard to open the Command Prompt window in admin mode.
Step 3: Copy and paste the below commands in the Command Prompt (admin) window one after another and press Enter after each command:
net stop dnscache net start dnscache
While the first command will force the DNS client service to stop if it’s enabled, the second command will start the DNS client service if it’s disabled.