Windows V9 TAP adapter and how to remove it

Tap Windows Adapter V9 is a virtual network interface that provides the functionality that various VPN clients need to facilitate a VPN connection. The Tap Windows Adapter V9 driver is installed in C: / Program files / Tap-Windows. Some users have reported that their internet connection is not working while Tap Windows Adapter V9 is enabled or that the adapter is automatically enabled on next boot after being disabled from Device Manager.

What is a TAP adapter for Windows?

A Windows TAP adapter is a special network driver installed by most VPN programs. This adapter will normally appear in Device Manager after the initial installation of the VPN client (Hamachi, SoftEther, Cyberghost, etc.). The majority, yes not all, VPN suites use this adapter as an alias to connect to the internet privately.

Depending on your version of Windows, you will find two different versions of Windows TAP drivers:

• NDIS driver 5 (tap-windows, version 9.9.x) – in Windows XP.

• NDIS driver 6 (tap-windows, version 9.21.x) – in Windows 10/8/7 / Vista.

When to reinstall or remove the Windows Tap adapter

Usually, if you are using a VPN network connection to connect to the Internet, you have little reason to ditch the adapter. However, if you have connectivity problems while the VPN connection is active, you should investigate if it is a corrupted driver and reinstall the Windows Tap adapter.

In the event that you have previously used a VPN connection but stopped using it in the meantime, it's very possible that the leftover Tap Windows Adapter is causing problems with your internet connection. In this case, removing the adapter will most likely fix the problem. However, the adapter can be reinstalled if you decide to keep the VPN software installed on your system.

How to reinstall the TAP-Windows V9 Adapter

If you can't connect to a VPN network (regardless of the program), Start troubleshooting by checking if the Tap adapter is installed correctly and reinstall if you find signs of corruption. Follow the guide below to reinstall the Windows Tap adapter:

1. Begin by terminating the VPN connection and closing the associated VPN program.

2. Later, open a run window (tecla de Windows + R), type »devmgmt.msc» and press Enter to open Device Manager.

3. In Device Manager, scroll down to Network Adapters and expand the drop down menu.

4. Then, find Press – Windows V9 adapter and see if it has an exclamation point on the associated icon. If you see an exclamation mark, reinstalling the driver will usually fix the problem. To do this, right click on the driver and select Uninstall device.

   

5. Once the Windows V9 adapter driver has been removed from Device Manager, reopen your VPN client. Depending on the VPN software you use, it will ask you to install the missing network driver (windows adapter) or it will install it automatically without prompting you.

   Note: If your VPN software just shows a »missing driver error» without reinstalling the driver automatically (after uninstalling it from Device Manager), reinstall all VPN client. Windows Tap adapter is included with all VPN client installation kits. If you want to avoid reinstalling the VPN client, visit this OpenVPN link (here), scroll down to Tap-Windows and download the appropriate installer based on your version of Windows.

   

6. Go back to Device Manager and see if the yellow exclamation icon has been removed. If that is not the case, ask your VPN client for help or find another VPN provider.

How to remove the TAP-Windows V9 adapter

Hopefully removing the Windows Tap adapter driver is as easy as uninstalling it from Device Manager. However, depending on the VPN software you have installed on your system, the adapter may reappear within Device Manager each time the system boots. This happens because some VPN programs have a startup service that checks for missing drivers and automatically installs the necessary missing drivers..

If you want to uninstall the Tap Windows Adapter V9 driver, go to Program Files> Tap-Windows and double click uninstall.exe. Later, follow the onscreen instructions until you remove the driver from the system.

If you stop at this step, the controller will come back on next boot or next time you open VPN software. To make sure the driver is not automatically reinstalled on your computer, you must get rid of the software that needs it. To do this, open a run window (tecla de Windows + R), type »appwiz.cpl» and press Enter to open the Programs and Features window.

Then, locate the VPN client and uninstall it from your system. If you have tried multiple VPN solutions before, make sure to remove each client until there is no software to reinstall TAP Windows Adapter V9.