Fix NS_E_CANNOTCONNECT (0XC00D0006) streaming error

When this error shows up

You're trying to stream a video or music from a network share, a home media server, or an online radio station. Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center opens, spins for a few seconds, then throws up the error: NS_E_CANNOTCONNECT (0XC00D0006). The message says "Windows Media Player cannot connect to the server." This happens most often with older streaming protocols like MMS or RTSP, but can also pop up with HTTP streams if something in the middle blocks the handshake.

What's really going on

Your computer sent a connection request to the server. The server didn't respond, or the response got dropped somewhere. The streaming port might be closed, a proxy is interfering, or DNS can't resolve the server name. Windows Media Player is strict about this—it expects a clean three-way TCP handshake within a short timeout. If it doesn't get that, it bails with 0xC00D0006.

I've seen this on corporate networks where a proxy is configured in Internet Options but not set to handle streaming traffic. Home users hit it when their antivirus firewall blocks the port. And sometimes it's just DNS cache pointing to an old IP that's offline now.

Step-by-step fix

Try these in order. Test after each step. Stop when it works.

Step 1: Check Windows Firewall

1. Press Windows + R, type wf.msc, hit Enter.
2. In the left panel, click Inbound Rules.
3. Scroll to Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. Make sure it's Enabled and Allows the connection. If it's disabled, right-click it, choose Enable Rule.
4. Also check Outbound Rules for any rule blocking Windows Media Player. Disable it if you find one.
5. Close the window.

After enabling, try connecting again. If it still fails, move to Step 2.

Step 2: Flush DNS cache and reset network stack

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Press Windows + X, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin).
2. Type these commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:

   ipconfig /flushdns
   ipconfig /registerdns
   ipconfig /release
   ipconfig /renew
   netsh winsock reset
   netsh int ip reset

3. Restart your computer.

After reboot, try the stream again. This clears any stale DNS entry or corrupted Winsock state—common cause when the server address changed but your PC still points to the old IP.

Step 3: Bypass proxy settings

Windows Media Player uses Internet Explorer's proxy settings. If a proxy is set but the media server is on your local network, the proxy can't reach it.

1. Open Internet Explorer (yes, the old one—it still controls these settings on Windows 10/11).
2. Click the gear icon, choose Internet Options.
3. Go to the Connections tab, click LAN settings.
4. If "Use a proxy server for your LAN" is checked, uncheck it. Or click Advanced and add the media server's IP or domain to the Exceptions list.
5. Click OK twice.

Now restart Windows Media Player and try again. This is the fix for most corporate-network cases.

Step 4: Check if the port is open

You need to know the port the stream uses. Common ones: 1755 (MMS), 554 (RTSP), 80 or 8080 (HTTP).

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Type telnet server-address 1755 (replace with the actual server and port). If Telnet isn't installed, use Test-NetConnection server-address -Port 1755 in PowerShell.
3. If you see a blank screen or "Trying..." followed by failure, the port is blocked. Check your router, third-party firewall, or antivirus firewall.

To temporarily test, disable your antivirus firewall (not Windows Firewall—that's fine). If the stream works, add an exception for Windows Media Player in your antivirus.

What to check if it still fails

If nothing above helped, here's what I'd look at next:

• Server is actually running. Can you reach the stream from another device on the same network? If not, the server is down or the stream URL is wrong.
• Windows Media Center might be the culprit. If you're using Media Center, its network settings are separate from Media Player. Go to Settings > General > Windows Media Center Setup > Configure TV and rerun the setup.
• Corrupted Media Player library. Close Media Player. Press Windows + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Media Player, delete everything in that folder. Restart Media Player—it rebuilds the library.
• Network profile is set to Public. Windows Firewall treats public networks stricter. Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi, click your network, set it to Private.
• IPv6 mismatch. If the server only speaks IPv6 and your network doesn't handle it, disable IPv6 on your adapter. Right-click the network icon, choose Open Network & Internet settings > Change adapter options, right-click your adapter, Properties, uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), click OK.

That 0xC00D0006 error is stubborn but not a hardware failure. Nine times out of ten it's a firewall or proxy blocking the connection. Work through these steps methodically and you'll get it streaming again.