Windows auto discovery proxy protocol

Question

I have machines in MS domain with no dhcp (static IP address) but although I deleted wpad.mydomain.it into dns , Windows 2016 Server It detected proxy server.

In settings there is enable this option: 'automatically detect settings'

Server is Windows 2022

If I ping this wpad entry there Is no answer.

My DHCP is deactivated and it's release IP address only for specific networks.

What do you want ?

thanks

Answer 1

Deleting the DNS record is not enough, because Windows will still probe for WPAD. You need to disable auto-detect via GPO or registry, or configure a controlled proxy setting.

In Internet Options → Connections → LAN Settings by unchecking “Automatically detect settings.” Alternatively, you can enforce this via Group Policy under User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Internet Explorer → Prevent changing proxy settings . On Windows Server 2022, the behavior is identical to Windows 10/11 clients because it’s part of WinHTTP/WinINET.

If you want to keep auto-detect but stop WPAD lookups, you can block them at the system level. The most reliable method is to configure the WinHttpAutoProxySvc service to disabled, or use Group Policy to set “Automatically detect configuration” to off.