WIFI won't turn on after upgrade from 8.1 to windows 10

[tamcatka]

hey everybody

I have issues with my new HP pavilion 250 4g. I have upgraded from windows 8.1 to windows 10 and after the upgrade its wifi is turned off and I can't put it back on. Network troubleshooting says to turn on wifi, but I cannot. Also, when i go to network settings: if I want to put it on with the button, it automatically puts itself back off. There is no options to connect to any Wi-Fi network from the list as usually you can see the multiple networks around you.

I enabled the network adapter in the BIOS and also updated and reinstalled drivers for wifi and even the wifi button adapter, but It did not solve the problem. I have also reset BIOS in the default setting and still no change.

After I reinstalled the driver I was able to turn on wifi in the network settings, but the icon on the bottom bar on the right-hand side said “Wifi turned off”, so still not working.

I would like to keep working with windows 10, so I don't really like to go back to windows 8.1.

does anyone know what I need to do? 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

That is an unusual problem you have there.

What model Wi-Fi adapter does your PC come with?

[tamcatka]

hey Paul_Tikkanen, 

thank you for coming back to me. I have seen similar problems on the internet and tried all their solutions, but nothing helped 😕 annoying. I assume it is an older model of laptop and for that reason, there is no real compatibility with windows 10 for wifi? 

The current model of Wi-Fi adapter on my laptop is: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11bgn wifi m.2 adapter

I just checked now and a new driver with a yellow exclamation mark appeared under the network adapters, its called: Microsoft wifi Direct Virtual adapter #3

I don't know how to reinstall it as I can not find the driver under the HP drivers. Do you think this could be a problem? It was not there before, that's first time I see it. 

many thanks for help. 

[tamcatka]

hey Paul_Tikkanen, 

thank you for coming back to me. I have seen similar problems on the internet and tried all their solutions, but nothing helped 😕 annoying. I assume it is an older model of laptop and for that reason, there is no real compatibility with windows 10 for wifi? 

The current model of Wi-Fi adapter on my laptop is: Broadcom BCM43142 802.11bgn wifi m.2 adapter

I just checked now and a new driver with a yellow exclamation mark appeared under the network adapters, its called: Microsoft wifi Direct Virtual adapter #3

I don't know how to reinstall it as I can not find the driver under the HP drivers. Do you think this could be a problem? It was not there before, that's first time I see it. 

many thanks for help. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

My assumption is that the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual adapter #3 device is installed by the Wi-Fi driver.

There wouldn't be a standalone driver for that device.

I checked the W10 driver versions for that card on your notebook's support page.

They are outdated, and the only suggestion I can offer would be to install newer W10 Wi-Fi card drivers and Wireless button drivers.

Wi-Fi:

Broadcom Wireless LAN Driver (Windows 10)

7.35.351.0 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp78001-78500/sp78044.exe

HP Wireless Button Driver (Windows 10) 

2.1.9.1 

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp95501-96000/sp95669.exe 

There is also a newer Bluetooth driver, although that is not going to get the Wi-Fi to work.

But you may as well install it too.

Broadcom Bluetooth Driver

12.0.1.921

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp75001-75500/sp75330.exe 

[tamcatka]

Hi Paul, 

Thank you for your help, but didn't help. It seems it installed the same Broadcom wifi adapter and wifi button driver, at least the name is the same and the version number is the same as you have stated. 

[tamcatka]

I have decided to add a photo for illustration. It is in Slovakian language, but maybe it will give you a better idea. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Unfortunately, I don't know what the problem could be.

You may just have to use a dual band USB Wi-Fi adapter.

If W10 is activated with a digital license, would you be willing to clean install W10 from scratch?

Maybe files got corrupted during the upgrade process.

You can make the bootable W10 installation flash drive with the media creation tool.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Boot from the EFI USB boot source.

After you get past the 'Install now' screen, you will be asked to select the version of W10 you want to install.

Select W10 Home or Pro (as applicable) 64 bit.

Then you will be asked to enter a product key.

Select the 'I don't have a product key' option.

Then you will be asked 'Where do you want to install Windows?'

At this point, I recommend that you delete every partition on the hard drive, leaving just one partition of unallocated space.

Click next, and W10 will install and will activate after you are connected to the internet.

Hopefully everything will work normally with a clean install of W10.