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How can I reinstall the Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter for Windows 10?

Anonymous
2018-01-22T04:49:52+00:00

I mistakenly uninstalled (and not just disabled) the Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter.

I've already restarted Windows several times, but sadly Windows did not reinstall the adapter. -_-

The adapter's driver is probably still in the "drivers" folder, but I don't know the name of the driver.

Do you know what its name?

(Note: I have vwifimp.sys, but that's for the old Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter which came with Windows 7, and got replaced with another version when Windows was upgraded to Windows 10.)

Or how can I reinstall the driver?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-23T10:53:53+00:00

    Actually, the driver's (file) name is indeed vwifimp.sys, and that Windows did automatically reinstall the adapter; except that it took time before the adapter could be "used" again.

    I mean, yesterday I executed "netsh wlan show hostednetwork", but the "Hosted network status" was "Not available" instead of either "Not started" or "Started".

    Also, when I went to Device Manager -> "Network adapters", and viewed the "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter Properties", the "Device status" was:

    Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)

    To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer.

    But now, the status is back to "This device is working properly .". Yay!

    So problem solved and lessons learned!

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-22T14:15:52+00:00

    Thanks, your reply was really useful.

    There is a system restore point created on the January 17, but I don't want to roll back to that day. Windows also automatically created a system restore point today, but unfortunately, that was (hours) after I uninstalled the adapter.

    Do you know the name of the driver? Because I'm hoping that I could just search for it in my hard disk, and then (manually) reinstall the driver.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-22T14:52:38+00:00

    In this case, we suggest checking the computer manufacturer's website to see if they have the latest Windows 10 drivers for your wireless card. You can also go to this article on how to get your device manufacturer's contact information.

    If you have additional questions, feel free to post them on this thread.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-22T12:42:19+00:00

    Hello,

    Should you want to revert the changes you made, you can perform a system restore to bring your system back to an earlier point in time where the Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter is still installed. To do this, simply follow the steps below:

    1. Right-click the Start  button, then select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
    2. Do one of the following:
      • To restore your files, choose Restore my files.
      • To restore the files of all users, choose Restore all users' files.

    It is also recommend to create a back up of your registry before making any change to it. You can follow the steps below to do this:

    1. Select the Start  button, then select Control Panel> System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
    2. Do one of the following:
      • If you've never used Windows Backup before, or recently upgraded your version of Windows, select Set up backup, and then follow the steps in the wizard.
      • If you've created a backup before, you can wait for your regularly scheduled backup to occur, or you can manually create a new backup by selecting Back up now.
      • If you’ve created a backup before, but want to make a new, full backup rather than updating the old one, select Create new, full backup, and then follow the steps in the wizard.

    Should you have further questions, please let us know.

    ***If you think this was useful, do not hesitate to "mark it as an answer" to help those who are facing the same problem.***

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