3 years, 2 months ago-
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I am having an issue with Windows sometimes indicating there are no wireless devices. When this occurs, the computer still connects to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, but Windows itself does not show them in settings, and I cannot change devices or connect to new devices. Interestingly enough, the legacy Window control GUI’s will still show the wireless device activity. For example, the WIFI connection still shows up under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Network Connections, and I can see the Wi-Fi when I click Properties for the connection.
I have had this issue with at least two of the family laptops. I have not been able to locate any mention of this issue on the internet. The only way I have found to correct the issue so far is to restart the computer. I was wondering whether anyone else has run into this problem.
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Hello Dale,
Thanks for visiting us on the forums with such a unique issue. What security software are you running, what version of windows are you running (winkey+R type winver, strike enter) and what is the model for the 2 computers experiencing the same issue?
After I get some of those answers, I can further help troubleshoot the issue.
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Hi, John,
Both laptops are HPs running the Windows 10 operating system version 1909 (OS Build 18363.126), and are using Windows Defender and Windows Firewall for real-time protection. The one that has the most trouble with the issue, an ENVY 17m-bw0xxx, also has a McAfee security scan that runs periodically. The other laptop is a Pavillion x360 Convertible 15-dq0xxx.
Thank you so much for your offer to help. I know this is a very unusual problem. It really sounds kind of like one or more Windows data variables is getting corrupted somehow causing a least a portion of the operating system to think there is no longer any hardware available.
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Hello Dale,
In the past I had some issues with a few HP Envy’s, I discovered removing the HP wireless assistant program and installing the latest driver for the wireless card from the manufacturers website instead of HP’s driver resolved the issue.
Are you using Windows itself to connect to WiFi or are you using HP’s 3rd party tool?
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Hi Dale,
That is good information, I’m going to need a bit more information if you could. Please follow these steps here and let me know your wireless devices name and model number.
Then if you can be sure windows is completely up to date and confirm the integrity of your windows files by following the step 12 here to run a System File Check.
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Hi, John,
The wireless device is Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265.
I ran the file check and disk scan, which I should have thought to do already. It appears from the log the file check found quite a few issues. Maybe that fixed the problem.
I have since found a couple instances of others requesting support for this same issue. One thing that had been difficult for them to get across those responding to the support request is, although the Windows settings GUI indicates there are no wireless devices, the wireless devices continue to function, and the airplane mode will still turn the wireless devices off an on. The legacy WIFI status GUI still shows the connection as active. One thing I have noted, and was noted by one of the other users having an issue, is it seems to only occur when coming out of sleep mode. Another thing I noticed this morning is I am also losing access to Bluetooth in settings when the problem occurs.
Thank you for your assistance. I will make a note to make a post sometime in the next week or so to let you know whether the problem occurs again after running the file and disk checks.
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Hello Dale,
Glad to hear you have made some progress, if it happens again I would install the latest driver directly from Intel by clicking here. You will want to download the second on the left hand side 64 bit driver.
I had worked a similar issue roughly 5 years ago on HP Envy 7 series I believe it was stemming from the HP version of the driver, and installing the driver directly from Intel solved the issue.
Lastly I found that sometimes when putting the computer to sleep, it will not wake the wireless card, so you should try to change the power management setting for you wireless card as described here.
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Hi, John,
Well, it happened again, but I found something this morning that indicates it is a known Windows 10 issue.
https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/07/18/windows-10-no-internet-connection-problem/
Interestingly enough, when this happens it affects everyone who is logged into the computer; however, if I log out and back into any one user’s account, the network controls are restored for all users. I’m guessing Windows fails to read the status of wireless devices when it comes out of sleep mode. As I mentioned before, when this occurs, I still have wireless capability, but I cannot control any of the wireless connections including Bluetooth.
I appreciate your efforts in helping me try to solve this issue. Maybe Microsoft will fix the issue one day. In the meantime, at least I have figured out I can fix the problem by logging in and out of another user account without having to restart everything in the account I am actively using.
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Hi, John,
Well, it happened again, but I found something this morning that indicates it is a known Windows 10 issue.
https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/07/18/windows-10-no-internet-connection-problem/
Interestingly enough, when this happens it affects everyone who is logged into the computer; however, if I log out and back into any one user’s account, the network controls are restored for all users. I’m guessing Windows fails to read the status of wireless devices when it comes out of sleep mode. As I mentioned before, when this occurs, I still have wireless capability, but I cannot control any of the wireless connections including Bluetooth.
I appreciate your efforts in helping me try to solve this issue. Maybe Microsoft will fix the issue one day. In the meantime, at least I have figured out I can fix the problem by logging in and out of another user account without having to restart everything in the account I am actively using.
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