I cloned my HDD and upgraded to an SSD and now I can't access the internet

[kilia01]

Hello,

I just upgraded to a Sandisk SSD.  I cloned my HDD and installed the new SSD.  Now I am not able to connect to the internet via Wifi or a wired connection.  I am wondering if anyone has ran into this and knows how to correct the issue.  Thanks in advance.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I have not, but if it were me, I would just clean install W10 on your new SSD as follows...

You can make a W10 USB flash drive installer with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, using an 8 GB flash drive using another Windows PC, if your PC is not working.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Here are the steps to create the W10 USB flash drive installer...

Select Download tool now, and select Run.

If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.

On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10. You want 64 bit.

Select which media you want to use:

USB flash drive. Plug in a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.

Then you can reinstall the drivers and available software from the PC's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-15-bw000-laptop-pc/15551418

[kilia01]

Thanks for the reply.  I will look at trying this.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Did you get the SSD Plus model?

They are insanely inexpensive currently.

I have four of them (240 GB) in 2 HP notebooks and 2 HP desktop pC's.

They work great. 

I paid $60 for the 240 GB size, which I now see that is the price for the 480 GB model.

[kilia01]

Yes, I got that model.  Hoping I can get this internet thing figured out.  Ha!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I think you are going to have to bite the bullet and do a clean install.

There shouldn't be any reason why the networking capabilities have been knocked out if the devices are still listed in the devicwe manager under the network adapters device manager category and report working normally.

[kilia01]

The only thing showing under network adapters is juniper networks virtual adapter manager.  I’m not sure if something else should be showing up there. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Yes, you should have a Realtek ethernet adapter, and some model wifi adapter.

Do you have any devices showing up under an Other Devices category in the device manager?

If the wired Realtek ethernet adapter and the wifi adapter need drivers, there will be an Ethernet Controller and a Network Controller device listed under the Other Devices category and that would explain why you can't connect to the internet.

If you do not see any such thing, go to the top of the device manager window, select the View option and enable the show hidden devices menu.

Then see if your ethernet and wifi adapter show up as lightly shaded devices under the Network Adapters device manager category.

If they do, uninstall them and reboot the PC, and see if Windows installs them to show up normally again.

[kilia01]

Thank you so much for the help.  I will look at that right now 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

It's a long shot, but I guess you have nothing to lose by trying it.

Otherwise, time to clean install W10...