How to Enable or Disable SMB2 Windows 10 [Solution]

In this post, we are going to discuss on “How to Enable or Disable SMB2 Windows 10”. You will be guided with easy steps/methods to do so. Let’s starts the discussion.

‘SMB2’ or ‘Server Message Block 2’: SMB2 stands for Server Message Block 2. It is file transfer protocol commonly used by Network –Attached Storage (NAS) devices and file servers for file and data sharing. SMB2 is successor of SMB protocol. SMB2 protocol was supported for Microsoft Vista initially and now it is supported by other Microsoft Windows OS version like Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Samba as well.

The purpose of SMB2 protocol- the successor of SMB protocol is to offer better performance and increased security over original protocol. However, according to Microsoft’s security researchers from MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center), an experimental exploit is already out and that it can gain complete control of targeted Windows System and can be launched by an unauthorised user.

The possible way to fix the issue is to turn OFF/disable SMB2 protocol and you can do this by editing Windows registry. But if you use SMB2 protocol to connect to network drives and printers, you will lose the about to use of them if you disable SMB2 protocol in your Windows 10 computer.

Several Windows 10 users reported that they faced ‘Your System requires SMB2 or higher’ error message on their Windows 10 computer. If you are facing the same error, then you can follow ou instructions to resolve. Let’s go for the solution.

Table of Contents

How to fix SMB2 issues in Windows 10?

Method 1: Fix Windows PC problems with ‘PC Repair Tool’

You can fix your Windows PC problems with ‘PC Repair Tool’ in order to fix ‘Your System requires SMB2 or higher’ error. This software offers you to find and fix BSOD errors, DLL errors, EXE errors, problems with programs, malware or viruses issues, system files or registry issues and other system issues with just few clicks.

⇓ Get PC Repair Tool

Method 2: Check if your System can install SMB2 protocol

Step 1: Press ‘Windows + X’ keys on keyboard and select ‘Windows PowerShell (Admin)’

Step 2: Type ‘Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableSMB2Protocol’ command and hit ‘Enter’ key to execute

Step 3: If your system can run SMB2 protocol, then type ‘Windows Features’ in ‘Windows Search box’ and select ‘Turn Windows Feature ON or OFF’ window

Step 4: Find and select ‘SMB1/CIFS File Sharing Support’ option and hit ‘Ok’ button

Step 5: Once done, restart your computer and check if SMB2 problem is resolved.

Method 3: Enable SMB2 Windows 10 using PowerShell

Step 1: Open ‘Windows PowerShell (Admin)’ using above method

Step 2: Type ‘Set-SmbServerConfiguration –EnableSMB2Protocol $true’ command and hit ‘Enter’ key, hit ‘Y’ key to confirm the execution.

Step 3: Once done, please check if the issue is resolved.

Method 4: Enable or Disable SMB2 Windows 10 using Registry Editor

Step 1: Press ‘Windows + R’ keys on keyboard, type ‘regedit’ in the opened ‘Run’ dialog box and hit ‘Ok’ button to open ‘Registry Editor’

Step 2: Navigate to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ LanmanServer \ Parameters’ path

Step 3: Add a ‘REG_DWORD’ key with ‘SMB2’ name, set its value ‘REG_DWORD’ and value to ‘0’ to disable. And hit ‘Ok’ button. If you want to enable it again, set its value to ‘1’

Step 4: Once done, restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.

Conclusion

I am sure this post helped you on How to Enable or Disable SMB2 Windows 10 with several easy steps. You can read & follow our instructions to do so. That’s all. For any suggestions or queries, please write on comment box below.

Samir Prakash Author