creative WP-250 - Bluetooth Peripheral Device Driver not found

Andy, great job! Thanks for this post.

I've spent countless hours as well trying all the usual stuff found online. I have an early 2009 24" iMac that I've used mostly to dual boot Windows Vista... then upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate and haven't had any issues until recently. It all started with upgrading to OS X Mavericks. What a P-I-T-A that was. Had to re-install everything. Anyway, I got to the Windows 7 install and everything seemed to be working fine until the boot camp installation and Bluetoothheadphone connection issue.

***By the way, everything installed on theiMac and is working great! Even the headphones :) 

--I went through all the Boot Camp drivers.  - nothing (oh yeah, don't know why but boot camp gave me the "x64 not supported..." and for the heck of it I installed the non 64 bit version of Boot camp 3.0 and my other devices starting working. Not Bluetooththough... still searching)

--I tried Broadcom Bluetooth download - nothing

--Then tried Toshiba Bluetooth stack - nothing

--Countless others I can't even remember - nothing

--Windows mobile device center 64 bit - nothing

--Ah... Microsoft Fix-it - nothing

--System repair disk - nothing   (by the way, if you haven't yet created a System Repair Disk. Do it... and create "**Restore"**points. This beats having to re-install everything)

....Keep everything you download!!! You might need it again through the troubleshooting process.

At this point I'm just trying to get my headphones to work again, but in the midst of all this troubleshooting, my Bluetooth stack got jacked. Yep, the dreaded **"Bluetooth Peripheral Device"**appeared.

Until I found this thread, I was going to throw in the towel to Windows and install Windows 7 again or use my wired headset. But like all you geek freaks out there, I couldn't give up. Heck, I just bought these awesome $89 dollar Bluetooth headphones. 

So I searched hi and low and got lucky and found this post and followed Andy's advice. He nailed it! Before you start, be sure to get rid of all the garbage you installed and start from scratch. 

**For the Mac users... what I did differently was re-install Boot Camp 3.0 and proceeded to:

---Step 1, then 

---Step 2- went straight to Broadcom Driver 6.2.1.500 and everything started installing 

---Step 3- didn't have finish the other steps. Headphones got picked and one by one the drivers were updated. I did have to go into the headsetproperties, then "Services" tab, and check the box next to "Headset" service and that installed the last driver. 

Great! I thought... drivers installed- no more "Bluetooth Peripheral Device", but there was no sound. That's okay... go to Devices right click on your "headset" icon and select Controland a new window appears, click on the connectbutton. Then, go to Soundand under the "Playback" tab, right click your headphones, then Enable, ConnectandSet as Default Device.

*** iMac users... after I went through these steps I noticed my headset kept shutting off. Go to **Device Manager>Bluetooth Radios>then, right clickApple Built-in Bluetooth,**then go to Power Management and uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

Hopefully, you are up and running by now!

Remember that every situation is different and some of the things I went through at the beginning of my journey might fix your specific issues.

Thanks again Andy for finding and sharing this fix.

After having spent an obscene amount of time researching this stupid Bluetooth nonsense this week, I have finally settled on a solution.

This is How to Resolve the "Bluetooth Peripheral Device Doesn't Have a Driver:"

I am using the following hardware in a dozen different tests:

--  Only Broadcom-based USB dongles from Belkin and Targus

--  Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on four different computers

--  4 different Bluetooth headsets: One Plantronics, one Matrix and two Motorolas

--  Bluetooth file transfer was not of interest, but I did test with two different phones

This guide will be most useful for those with similar hardware configurations... and for those who have tried all the other nonsense to no avail.  Especially that oft-repeated "Just install Windows Mobile Device Manager."

Step 1: Ignore 99% of what you think you've learned about this problem.

It will *most likely* boil down to a missing COM port.

Step 2: Definitely ignore the bit about installing the Windows Mobile Device Center

(Unless you have a Windows Mobile-based phone and/or have some other use for a Windows 7 flavor of Activesync.)

Step 3: Stop looking for a driver for something named a "Bluetooth Peripheral Device."

There ain't no such thing. If you watch the Bluetooth installation unfold, you'll notice that all the components of Bluetooth start out as "Bluetooth Peripheral Device," and then once Windows IDs each item, the appropriate driver is installed and the name changes from "Bluetooth Peripheral Device" to something like "Bluetooth Hands-free Audio" or "Bluetooth Remote Control" etc.

Unfortunately, most people reading this will have attempted one or more of the following:

1.) Installing that stupid Windows Mobile Device Center

2.) Installing any number of who-knows-what Bluetooth drivers from who-knows-where

3.) Running all sorts of third-party driver utilities

4.) Forcing various driver installations to run in Vista, XP, or Win98 mode

5.) Sacrificing countless animals

The end result is a plethora of totally unnecessary software and/or driver installations and/or updates... and a few dead animals.

Instead, here's the solution.  I've tested it with three different USB Dongles (2 Belkin and 1 Targus) and on four different machines: HP, Sony, Toshiba and another HP. Two were newly un-boxed with Windows 7 64-bit Professional and two were upgraded from Vista to the same OS.

With each machine I connected the following headsets: a Plantronics Voyager Legend, Motorola S9, Motorola S805 and Matrix AF62 as well as one Samsung S3 and one HTC Android.

So I suppose it's fair to say that this is a solution for one of these dongles... but in reality, the majority of Broadcomm-based USB dongles will be affected. I ran through these steps on four different boxes after verifying that the stupid "Bluetooth Peripheral Device Doesn't Have a Driver"

surfaced during installation.

1.) If you have done any of the fruitless steps mentioned above, get into control panel and delete everything you installed.  Kill any Broadcomm or Widcomm bluetooth entries. Delete any 3rd-party driver maintenance apps. Reboot to a clean machine.

2.) Locate and install either Broadcomm Driver 6.0.1.6300 OR 6.2.1.500.  Either one works, but the latter (more recent) has far better Bluetooth device management tools.  I tested the installation of both separately and also starting with 6.0.1.6300 and then upgrading to 6.2.1.500.

(Ignore the stupid Broadcomm Driver Updater that they are pushing at their website -- it is useless for the majority of us out there.)

3.) As you install one of the above drivers, you'll see a notification regarding the installation of the various components.  Click on that pop-up and watch the progression.  You'll see that each "Bluetooth Peripheral Device" gets a new name as the related driver is installed.  In my dozen+ tests, each & every item at this stage got the green checkmark of success.

4.) NOW attempt to pair the device of your choosing.  IF that manufacturer provides separate drivers, do not install them yet, regardless of their instructions.  See how far Windows gets on its own.

5.) As soon as the pairing begins, you'll see more notifications regarding the individual driver components.  Click on one of these and watch a similar progression... EXCEPT that you will have one "Bluetooth Peripheral Device" with the dreaded Red X and the complaint that no driver was found.

6.) Do not despair! This will happen the first time you pair any new Bluetooth device.

7.) Wait for the installation to complete.  Despite the dialog showing the list of Bluetooth components with the one red X, you probably have another window saying that the Bluetooth device paired perfectly.  But you and I know it didn't. Confidently click to close that dialog.

8.) Go to Device Manager (through Control Panel, Computer properties) and you'll spot that cursed Bluetooth Peripheral Device that is sitting there in the middle under "Other Devices."

9.) Right-click on the Bluetooth Peripheral Device with the yellow exclamation under "Other Devices" and choose "Update Driver" -- then:

Click on:

a.) Browse my computer for driver Software

b.) Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer

c.) In the list of Common hardware types, choose:

--->>>>   Ports (COM & LPT)  <<<<---

d.) Under Manufacturer, choose Microsoft

e.) Under Model, choose "Standard Serial over Bluetooth Link" & click 'Next'

f.)  When prompted with the Update Driver Warning, click 'Yes'

g.) Joyfully read the message that "Windows has successfully updated your driver software"

h.) Read it again for the fun of it and click 'Close'

i.) To confirm that this mess is really fixed (assuming compatible hardware, etc.) Right-click on the Bluetooth device and choose "Troubleshoot" -- there should be no problems reported.

10.) You should not have to reboot, but you MIGHT need to cycle the power of your Bluetooth device Off & Back on to let it reconnect again (NOT re-Pair... just re-Connect). Out of a dozen tests, I only had to do this once, and that was with a 3-year-old-Bluetooth headset.

I backed my way into the solution by installing on a Vista machine where everything worked perfectly.  After installing the various devices under Vista, I spotted the COM Port in the Device Manager -- that was the only item that didn't appear in the Windows 7 installation... but instead was left as the dreaded "Bluetooth Peripheral Device."

The Windows Mobile thingy only worked for some people because it was basically tackling a bunch of different hardware possibilities... but for those who didn't have success it was because the Windows Mobile Kitchen Sink approach did not include the COM Port driver.

I purposefully did not include any links to drivers as a.) links change, and b.) I don't want to be responsible for some knucklehead site packaging a trojan in with the zip file.  Let Google be your friend and your instinct be your guide.

I will say that I used a 6.0.1.6300 directly from Belkin's site and a 6.2.1.500 directly from Gateway's site.

I hope this saves people a whole lot of frustration.