Microsoft ISATAP Adapter (tunnel) Service Defaults in Windows 10

Microsoft Tunnel Interface Driver by Microsoft Corporation.

Default Settings

Startup type:Manual
Display name:Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Service name:tunnel
Service type:kernel
Error control:normal
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tunnel

Default Behavior

Microsoft ISATAP Adapter is a kernel device driver. In Windows 10 it is starting only if the user, an application or another service starts it. If Microsoft ISATAP Adapter fails to start, the failure details are being recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 10 will start up and notify the user that the tunnel service has failed to start due to the error.

Restore Default Startup Configuration for Microsoft ISATAP Adapter

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.


sc config tunnel start= demand

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The tunnel service is using the tunnel.sys file that is located in the %WinDir%\System32\drivers folder. If the file is changed, damaged or deleted, you can restore its original version from Windows 10 installation media.