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Windows 7 PC has stopped recognising USB WI-FI Adapter

Anonymous
2021-09-07T12:24:19+00:00

Hi,

Have a windows 7 machine and was running a Belkin Wireless Adaptor that was running fine.

Suddenly the Belkin stopped working. I figured it had died through old age and purchased a new one.

Unfortunately the new one doesn't work either. I've since done a bit of de-bugging and haven't dome up with anything and so have come here hoping to find someone that can help.

New adaptor is TP-Link ac600. Have checked compatibility with my system and should work fine. The AC600 also gets good reviews on Amazon so would expect to work.

Attempted to install following the instructions. Where that falls down is the auto install doesn't find the adaptor, and says it's not plugged in.

When the adaptor is plugged into the USB slot on the windows 7 machine, it doesn't light up, no notification from Windows, and it doesn't appear under the taskbar widget for connected devices.. When I test it in another machine, windows confirms I've just plugged something in, and the light on the adaptor comes on.

Other USB hardware (e.g. printer) is still working. It's only wireless adaptors that I am having an issue with.

If I look in device manager with the adaptor plugged in, the wireless adaptor comes up under Other Devices as "802.11ac WLAN Adapter" with a yellow exclamation mark against it.

If I then try to update driver in device manager i) pointing device manager at the installation CD results in "no drive found", and ii) if I point device manager to Search automatically / online for a driver (via a tethered iphone) I get "Windows could not find driver software for your device".

I've not made any changes to the computer recently, nothing new installed, and Windows says the last update was in May.

Throughout the course of trying a million different combinations of checks and actions, I have disabled USB Selective Suspend Setting, I've tried USB ports that are working for other devices, and several other things, before completely running out of ideas.

Here is the systeminfo:

OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

OS Version:                6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

OS Manufacturer:           Microsoft Corporation

OS Configuration:          Standalone Workstation

OS Build Type:             Multiprocessor Free

Registered Owner:          bob & jean

Registered Organization:

Product ID:                00359-OEM-8992687-00006

Original Install Date:     21/03/2011, 18:14:04

System Boot Time:          07/09/2021, 12:25:48

System Manufacturer:       Packard Bell

System Model:              imedia S3810

System Type:               x64-based PC

Processor(s):              1 Processor(s) Installed.

                           01: Intel64 Family 6 Model 37 Stepping 5 GenuineInt

el ~2912 Mhz

BIOS Version:              American Megatrends Inc. P01-A4, 19/08/2010

Windows Directory:         C:\Windows

System Directory:          C:\Windows\system32

Boot Device:               \Device\HarddiskVolume2

System Locale:             en-gb;English (United Kingdom)

Input Locale:              en-gb;English (United Kingdom)

Time Zone:                 (UTC+00:00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Total Physical Memory:     2,999 MB

Available Physical Memory: 1,539 MB

Virtual Memory: Max Size:  5,996 MB

Virtual Memory: Available: 4,132 MB

Virtual Memory: In Use:    1,864 MB

Page File Location(s):     C:\pagefile.sys

Domain:                    WORKGROUP

Logon Server:              \PACK

Hotfix(s):                 588 Hotfix(s) Installed.

                           [246]

Network Card(s):           2 NIC(s) Installed.

                           01: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

                                 Connection Name: Local Area Connection

                                 Status:          Media disconnected

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. LemP 74,925 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-09-08T17:57:50+00:00

    Unfortunately, you're getting very close to the limit of my ability to deal with this issue without doing a reinstall of Windows 7. If you're like most, that would be a really last resort.

    • Click Start, type Services.msc in the Search box, and press Enter
    • When the Services applet opens, scroll down to Plug and Play. The status of this service should be "Started" and the "Startup Type" should be "Automatic," as shown below. I'm almost certain that this is NOT your problem, but take a look just for completeness.

    • Open an Elevated Command Prompt (click Start, type Command Prompt in the Search box, right-click on the link to Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator," respond as needed to the UAC prompt).
    • Type the following in the black Command Prompt window and press Enter
      sfc /scannow

    Please report the message at the end of the scan If any files were fixed, restart the computer and see if your USB adapter is detected.

    If neither of the above helped, I'm sorry, but the only thing I can think of other than a reinstall is to ask your question at ONE of the following forums. If you do that, please read the posting instructions first and also include a link to this thread so you won't have to repeat things.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-09-08T14:42:23+00:00

    Hi,

    Thanks for responding. The only warning that I have is on Other Devices > 802.11ac WLAN Adaptor

    The network is Sky subscription via a Sky Hub model number er115

    This is the model https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/adapter/archer-t2u-plus/

    There's no version number so must be version 1.

    When I put the installation CD in the computer, installation starts but stalls as it can't see the device. You can retry, it still doesn't find it.

    Cheers

    Ben

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  3. LemP 74,925 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-09-07T18:04:15+00:00

    There's definitely something odd going on.

    Are there any other warning icons (yellow exclamation mark) showing in Device Manager? If yes, please indicate the name of the item and the category it's in.

    What's the source of your wi-fi network? That is, do you have your own router? If so, what is its make and model as shown on the manufacturer's label on the back or bottom of the device?

    There are 3 models of the TP-Link AC-600 USB adapter (V1, V2, V3). Which do you have? Per https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/46/

    Image

    What happens when you put the installation CD into the CD drive on your computer? If nothing happens, press the Windows Logo key and E simultaneously and then double-click the icon for your CD drive. Double click setup.exe (might just say setup depending on your configuration). What happens when you double-click setup? If you get an error message, please provide the complete text.

    Image

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