Windows Prefer IPv4 or Disable IPv6

There is a registry setting that can be modified to either prefer IPv4 over IPv6, or completely disable IPv6. It's preferable to just prefer IPv4 over IPv6, but in some instances if software doesn't work with this setting still, you can completely disable IPv6.

The setting that needs to be modified is at the following key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters

You'll need to create a DWORD value with the name DisabledComponents and set the value to the following depending on what configuration you want:

Hex 20 (Decimal 32) - Prefer IPv4 over IPv6

Hex FF (Decimal 255) - Disable IPv6

If you need to put everything back to default where IPv6 is preferred over IPv4, then just delete the DisabledComponents value completely.

There are also registry files attached to this page which allow you to open them to automatically make these setting changes for you.