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Laptop suddenly cannot connect to wifi. What to do?

Anonymous
2025-02-21T22:28:09+00:00

My wife's laptop suddenly stopped connecting to our wifi network. Every other device in the house (2 desktop pcs and 2 phones) connects perfectly so the problem is obviously with her laptop and, I assume, with the in-built wireless adapter.

I've tried several, brand new USB wireless adapters with the same results; cannot connect to this network. If it's not the in-built adapter that's faulty then it must be the settings that may have been changed as a result of a recent update?

We've tried disabling and disconnecting the in-built adapter to, then, try the USB adapter on its own with zero result. Which would, again, suggest that the fault lies in the settings.

I've seen myriad online suggestions for dealing with this situation and tried some of them to no avail.

For what it's worth, the laptop is able to access the network with the use of an ethernet cable. So the issue is not with being able to connect to the network; it's being able to connect wirelessly.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-02-22T21:52:19+00:00

    Hello! My name is Renzo and welcome to Microsoft Community.

    I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing this issue and I'll be happy to help you out.

    1. Forget and Reconnect to the Network
      Open Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi.
      Click on Manage known networks.
      Find your network, click on it, and then select Forget.
      Go back to the Wi-Fi settings and reconnect to your network by entering the password.
    2. Update Network Adapter
    3. Press Windows Key + X then click on Device Manager
    4. On View Tab, click Show Hidden Devices
    5. Click the drop down for the Network Adapter
    6. Find the correct driver > Right click then "Update Driver"
    7. Click on "Search Automatically for drivers"
    8. Restart your computer and test if you have the same issue.
    9. Run the Network Troubleshooter
      Go to Settings > System> Troubleshooters
      Choose Other Troubleshooter
      Click Network and Internet.
      Follow the on-screen instruction to diagnose and fix any issues it detects.
    10. Reset Network Settings:
      Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network reset.
      Click Reset now, and restart your PC.
      After the reset, check Event Viewer for Errors
      Open the Event Viewer by searching for it in the start menu.
      Look under Windows Logs > System for any network-related errors or warnings that might give a clue about what's going wrong.

    I hope the above steps helped you. In case of additional questions, reach out back to me, and I will be happy to help and try my best to resolve your issue. Thank you.

    Thanks for your response.

    1. I've already tried this several times with the same result "can't connect to this network."
    2. I've tried this, as well. Updated the drivers of the in-built wifi adapter - "can't connect to this network." I've also tried disabling the in-built adapter and plugged in the USB wifi adapter and updated it's drivers with the same result - "can't connect to this network."
    3. I don't see a troubleshooting option in System. If I run Troubleshoot under Network & Internet the result is "Problem with wireless adapter or access point - Not fixed."
    4. I reset the network and restart. I open Event Viewer which, under Windows Log/System lists 35,372 events dating back to January 2024, which is about the time this laptop started being used after replacing the HDD with an SSD. There are numerous Warnings and several Errors. The most recent ones being either Service Control Manager (Errors) or DistributedCOM (Warnings). Which means nothing to me.

    Would resetting to factory settings and reinstalling Windows help?

    What now?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2025-05-15T23:37:58+00:00

    I did all this process and nothing is working.

    my wiffi driver isn’t working

    Has an exclamation but re installed and nothing happened

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  4. Renzo 2,425 Reputation points
    2025-02-23T11:44:56+00:00

    Hi,

    Yes, resetting to factory settings and reinstalling Windows can help resolve persistent issues, especially if software or system corruption is causing the problem.

    Alternatively, you can also run an in-place repair by following the steps on this link: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

    Let me know how it goes and feel free to reach back if you have additional question. Thank you.

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  5. Renzo 2,425 Reputation points
    2025-02-22T02:46:58+00:00

    Hello! My name is Renzo and welcome to Microsoft Community.

    I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing this issue and I'll be happy to help you out.

    1. Forget and Reconnect to the Network

    Open Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi.

    Click on Manage known networks.

    Find your network, click on it, and then select Forget.

    Go back to the Wi-Fi settings and reconnect to your network by entering the password.

    1. Update Network Adapter
    2. Press Windows Key + X then click on Device Manager
    3. On View Tab, click Show Hidden Devices
    4. Click the drop down for the Network Adapter
    5. Find the correct driver > Right click then "Update Driver"
    6. Click on "Search Automatically for drivers"
    7. Restart your computer and test if you have the same issue.
    8. Run the Network Troubleshooter

    Go to Settings > System> Troubleshooters

    Choose Other Troubleshooter

    Click Network and Internet.

    Follow the on-screen instruction to diagnose and fix any issues it detects.

    1. Reset Network Settings:

    Go to Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network reset.

    Click Reset now, and restart your PC.

    After the reset, check Event Viewer for Errors

    Open the Event Viewer by searching for it in the start menu.

    Look under Windows Logs > System for any network-related errors or warnings that might give a clue about what's going wrong.

    I hope the above steps helped you. In case of additional questions, reach out back to me, and I will be happy to help and try my best to resolve your issue. Thank you.

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