HP Z4 G4 LAN driver problem with Windows 10 install

[Alpine_B]

So- I just used DBAN to wipe my hard drives prior to transfer of my workstation, and upon a fresh install of Windows 10 64-bit ( from the Windows Media Creation Tool ISO ) and my HP Z4 G4's LAN network adapter is not working.

In Windows Device Manager, I get the error code "   Intel Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V, but the device can not start (error code 10).  " - I believe after reading a similar post that the automatic driver update has installed a newer driver not compatible with my hardware.

I have used the HP Support Assistant, as well as the Intel Driver Update Utility Tool, but it seems both are misidentifying my network controller and installing incompatible drivers. I have the HP Z4 G4 version with Intel Core X-series ( specifically the i7-7820x) , and the LAN network adapter is the single port version.

I have uninstalled the device, and it's drivers, and tried to re-install- but I am having trouble identifying the actual driver that I need. I believe I should just find the single driver, possibly an older version, and install it by itself without using any kind of auto update tools or features, but I am struggling to identify the actual make/model of the Intel network adapter in order to find a stand alone driver I can download-

Any ideas, tips, or suggestions? Thanks, you all rock!

[SDH · Accepted solution]

I'd recommend using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool to get a HP-built W10Pro64 installer crafted by them to have exactly what they want in terms of drivers and OS settings for your workstation. I'd install that with BIOS set to factory defaults, and I'd have BIOS updated to the latest before I even started this process. Then I'd update from that HP install to the very latest W10Pro64 version via Microsoft's Windows Update. I'd check Device Manager then to ensure no drivers were missing. I'd run my standard list of the Windows built-in disk cleanup procedures. I'd capture an image of that build. Then I'd update from W10 to W11, cleanup again, and capture an image of that too.

I've seen that this method gets you drivers and settings that were specifically intended by HP rather than ones that Microsoft thinks will work, and that some of those HP drivers and specific OS settings put in place from the beginning persist over all the updates that come.

The HP Cloud Recovery Tool install kits can be downloaded and used only on HP workstations that are "branded" in their firmware to be licensed for Windows OS installations, and you need to provide a workstation's "Product ID" to be able to download the kit. That's all in the instructions.