Hey guys,

Both my work computer and home computer just doesn't have the Ws2_32.lib library. I've searched all the folders and ... nothing. I do have Ws2_32.dll, but copying it into my working folder doesn't do the trick. My system still says "cannot find -lWs2_32.lib"

Why did it put a minus el in front of Ws2_32.lib, does that mean something?

Please help, I'm burning out with how many hours I've put in.

Thank you in advance.

What compiler / IDE do you use?
If you don't use Visual Studio you might need to download the Windows SDK separately.

Code Blocks is my IDE
MingW is my compiler

... I'll look in to downloading Visual Studios

Code Blocks is my IDE MingW is my compiler

Library files for MinGW are not .lib files, they are lib[library_name].a as a substitute.

I looked in my Code::Blocks directory, navigated to the MinGW lib directory, and I found a libws2_32.a.

It would not hurt to have several IDEs/compilers installed, VS and C:B would be a good choice.

... I'll looking to downloading Visual Studios

If you do decide to get VS you should know a "typical" install doesn't add C++ to the install queue. You have to manually select it.

This is all good information, thank you!

This is a linker error and not a run-time error, correct?

Assuming, as FurryGuy noted, that you have libws2_32.a in your MinGW lib directory, you need to add that library to be looked for by CodeBlocks. Go to Project build options --> Linker settings --> and add ws2_32.

Try playing around with other command-line options as well, noted in
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/35003396/mingw-w64-searches-for-libws2-32-dll-instead-of-ws2-32-dll