How to unblock VPN blocked by Kaspersky AV
- Whitelist the VPN
- Disable scanning of encrypted connections
- Upgrade or downgrade Kaspersky
- Check TAP drivers
- Reinstall the VPN
1: Whitelist the VPN
First things first. Let’s make sure that the Kaspersky security suite is responsible
for VPN blockage or inconsistencies in connection speeds. Temporarily disable
the antivirus by right-clicking on the icon in the Notification area and try using
VPN again. If the Kaspersky antivirus is indeed to be blamed for VPN issues, you’ll
need to manually create an exclusion for the VPN client.
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Now, regardless whether you did it before, it seems that an update for Kaspersky
changed settings in an unfavorable way, blocking the outgoing VPN connections.
We recommend also adding the exceptions for browsers, as the troubling patch
allegedly affected the browsers the most, while other connection-related applications
continued working just fine with the VPN enabled.
If you’re not sure how to do it, follow the instructions we provided below:
- Open Kaspersky from the notification area and then open Settings.
- Choose Protection.
- Select Firewall.
- Disable “Block network connections if the user cannot be prompted“.
- Select the VPN executable file and allow it to communicate through the firewall. Repeat this for all related applications.
- Save changes and try connecting again.
2: Disable scanning of encrypted connections
Some experienced users recommended disabling certain options in order to make the VPN work. One of the options which seemingly disrupts the VPN connectivity is “Scanning of encrypted connections”. Also, disabling “Inject Script into web traffic to interact with web pages” and “Automatically activate Kaspersky Protection extension in browsers” options might help, as well.
If you’re not sure how to do so, we provided the steps for all 3 options below.
- Start Kaspersky > Settings > Additional > Network > disable “Do not scan encrypted connections“.
- Start Kaspersky > Settings > Additional > Network > disable “Inject Script into web traffic to interact with web pages“.
- Open Kaspersky > Settings > Protection > Web-Antivirus settings > Advanced settings > disable “Automatically activate Kaspersky Protection extension in browsers“. Prior to this, we recommend uninstalling the extension from the browser.
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3: Upgrade or downgrade Kaspersky
First and foremost, make sure that you’re having the latest Kaspersky patch. If that’s the case, upgrading/downgrading seems applicable. Furthermore, it seems that the version which broke VPN is Kaspersky 2017. Instead of waiting for the patch, some users decided to change the version of the antivirus, upgrading it or downgrading it in the process. If you have a license key, you can install almost all Kaspersky versions, so have that in mind.
The important thing is to skip on the upgrade prompts (Settings > Additional >Update, and uncheck the option to download new versions) if you, say, downgrade to Kaspersky 2016. What you’ll need to do is to keep hold of the license key and uninstall the current Kaspersky version. After that, navigate to the official site and download the version you deem functional. If you relly on VPN on the daily basis, you should probably consider this option.
Also, you can, free of charge, upgrade to Kaspersky’s version 2018 in the same manner.
4: Check TAP drivers
The affected VPN can have its share in this, even though Kaspersky is the main culprit. Namely, while waiting for the solution, some users meddled with the TAP adapter and its respective driver. For some reason, they had a much better connection after rolling back the drivers. TAP adapter is an essential part of VPN, so the relation is obvious.
Due to the apparent differences with every system (there are no 2 identically configured PCs), we can’t say with certainty whether this is a permanent solution. Nonetheless, it’s worth a try.
5: Reinstall the VPN
Finally, you can try and reinstall the affected VPN. By doing so, the application itself (VPN client) should reintegrate in the system shell. And maybe the problem won’t persist after that. We recommend using a third-party uninstaller to clean all the remaining files and registry entries left behind.
Follow these instructions to uninstall the VPN:
- In the Windows Search bar, type Control and open Control Panel from the list of results.
- From the Category view, click Uninstall a program under Programs.
- Right-click on your VPN solution and Uninstall it.
- Use IObit Uninstaller Pro (suggested) or any other third-party uninstaller to clean all remaining files and registry entries the VPN has made.
- Restart your PC.
- Download the latest version of the VPN of your choice and install it.
That should do it. In case you have any questions or suggestions regarding the VPNs inability to work when paired with Kaspersky antivirus, feel free to tell us in the comments section below.
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