Need Help Permanently Uninstalling Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapters

Question

I have an Azure VPN connection set up on my computer. I've noticed lately that every time I open a new Explorer window for anything (saving as, opening a new File Explorer window to search for a file, browsing for a file to open in a program, etc.) the VPN immediately crashes. However, I've also noticed that when I delete the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter(s) from Device Manager the problem disappears. I can maintain my VPN connection with no problems and open as many Explorer windows as I want with no issues whatsoever. The problem is that these Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapters always come back after a reboot. I have tried multiple methods so far in an attempt to permanently uninstall them and to prevent them from reinstalling on reboot, but to no avail.

Here are the steps I've taken so far:

• Changed the settings for Projecting to this PC, located at Settings > System > Projecting to this PC, to be set to "Always Off" under Some Windows and Android devices can project to this PC when you say it's OK.
• Deleted the HostedNetworkSettings value at this location in the registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Wlansvc\Parameters\HostedNetworkSettings.
• Set Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #1 and #2 to just disabled in Device Manager instead of uninstalling. This resulted in Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #3 and #4 being created instead.
• Set settings > system > about > system protection > hardware > device installation settings > switched to No and saved changes.
• Disabled uPNP and SSDP discovery in services.msc.

I'm at a loss for what else to try. I've read other MS community articles that suggest changing the Projecting to this PC setting worked for them, but that has not worked for me. I've also confirmed that the Wireless Display feature that allows for Projecting to this PC is not installed on my computer, so I am not sure what else to try.

Does anyone have a reliable way to ensure these Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapters uninstall permanently and do not reinstall after a reboot?

 

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Let's try below additional suggestions to see if we can resolve the issue:

1. If you have any Azure VPN client installed on your windows client, please uninstall it first.
2. Remove client configuration file or other related files for further clean.
3. Check if there's any automation task or scripts that keep generating the virtual adaptor after boot.
4. Definitely you will delete the virtual adaptor, after that you can run "msinfo32.exe" to further check Software Environment and click System Drivers to see the installed drivers on your system. Kae sure that VPN related drivers are uninstalled.

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