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I can't do a clean install of the Wi-Fi driver

Anonymous
2024-11-25T15:49:51+00:00

I am trying to do a clean install of the Wifi driver, but something is wrong.

The installation date of the Wifi driver is not updated in the device manager, and the version has not changed.

Intel® Wireless Wi-Fi Drivers for Windows® 10 and Windows 11*

What I have tried :

  1. Uninstalled the WiFi driver (Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz) in the device manager. Checked "Tried to remove the driver for this device"
  2. Rebooted
  3. Checked the device manager and confirmed that the WiFi driver does not show "Tried to remove the driver for this device"
  4. Disk cleanup and deleted the Temp / %Temp% folder
  5. Run the latest WiFi driver with administrator privileges and install

The clean install of the Bluetooth driver is successful, the installation date is updated, and the version has changed.

I installed the latest WiFi driver 23.90.0, but the version in Device Manager shows 23.90.0.2

I also tried a clean install and after installing the WiFi driver, for some reason WiFi-23.90.0-Driver64-Win10-Win11 reports "Repair completed"

A fresh install should say "Installation completed"

The installation file reports repair only if an overwrite install has been performed, which means the old WiFi driver has not been completely removed

But the WiFi driver should have been uninstalled...

Windows11 24H2 The only security software is Windows Security

Can anyone help me?

Thank you

↓The installer Ver.23.90.0 Installed on 11/26 (digitally signed and downloaded from Intel's official site)

![](https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/25dfcf75-7db5-4c34-9bd5-f18f11c823e9?platform=QnA"https://learn-attachment.microsoft.com/api/attachments/3d7bf68f-c157-4c65-898c-f655038efc99?platform=QnA" title="filestore.community.support.microsoft.com" rel="ugc nofollow">

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-29T05:38:27+00:00

    Thank you for your reply, Yang.Z

    I apologize for the delay in responding.

    I trust you, but just to be sure, please allow me to confirm something

    Even though several services are stopped in Safe Mode, is it still possible to properly uninstall drivers?

    Best regards,

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-11-26T14:48:54+00:00

    Dear ArJuna_00!

    Welcome to the Microsoft Community!

    I understand your concern about driver updates, and this is indeed a troubling situation. However, before we move on to how to resolve this issue, I would like to ask you a few questions:

    1. Is your WiFi working properly? Are you experiencing any specific connectivity or performance issues?
    2. What prompted you to want to update the WiFi driver? Is it because of some specific problem you are experiencing, or do you simply want to keep your system up to date?

    The situation you mentioned is indeed a bit strange, especially since the installer reports "Repair Completed" instead of "Installation Completed". This may indicate that some components of the old driver are still present in the system.

    If you really need to install this specific version of the driver, I have a few suggestions:

    1. You can try to use a third-party driver management software to completely clean up the old driver, including the related entries in the registry. After that, restart the computer and try to install the new driver again.
    2. If the above method does not work, you can consider using Windows' safe mode to uninstall the driver and then install the new driver in normal mode.

    However, I would like to emphasize that the latest driver is not always the best choice. Sometimes, an older driver may be more stable, especially if your WiFi is currently working properly.

    My suggestion is that unless you are experiencing specific WiFi problems, you can consider using the driver version recommended by the device manufacturer. These drivers may not be the most recent, but they are usually more thoroughly tested and provide more stable performance.

    Thank you for your understanding and support! 

    Best regards,

    Yang.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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