What does Windows error code 10105 (WSAEINVALIDPROVIDER) mean?

WSAEINVALIDPROVIDER

WSAEINVALIDPROVIDER identifies a local Winsock provider-selection problem. Microsoft documents it when provider information cannot be found for the requested protocol entry and also when a provider reports an unsupported provider version instead of the Winsock 2.0 SPI contract.

Provider catalog, not destination host

Winsock selects protocol providers from its local catalogs. On 64-bit Windows there are native and 32-bit catalog views, and provider management APIs have corresponding 32-bit variants. A provider GUID that exists in one architecture's catalog does not prove that the other catalog contains a usable entry.

What to inspect

• The provider GUID and protocol entry being queried.
• Whether the failing process is 32-bit or 64-bit.
• The provider DLL path and architecture.
• Recent installation or removal of VPN, security, proxy, or legacy LSP software.
• Whether provider enumeration returns the expected protocol chain.

Do not replace the error with a generic “network unavailable” result. Preserving the provider identifier is critical because the same remote address can work through one provider chain and fail through another.

Microsoft: WSCGetProviderInfo · Microsoft: 32-bit provider catalog access · Microsoft: Winsock error codes