Windows 10: Missing network adapter driver, doesn't reinstall after restart. How to install driver?

I recently got an issue with my ASUS Windows 10 where I can't seem to be able to connect to any network. Upon further investigation, I found that my network adapter was "disconnected" (Code 45). Therefore, I tried uninstalling my QCA9377 driver, in hopes of it reinstalling when I restarted. However, it did not. I have downloaded the most up to date WLAN driver from the ASUS website. How do I install a driver from a zip file?


The same is also happening with my Bluetooth driver, but I have not uninstalled it yet.

:)

 

no wifi driver in Network Adapter

We appreciate your response. You can try to reinstall your Wi-Fi driver by scanning for hardware changes. Follow the steps below:

• Go to the Device Manager.
• Click the Action tab.
• Select Scan for hardware changes and follow the prompts to reinstall the missing driver.

If the issue persists, kindly provide us a screenshot of what you are seeing in the
Device Manager under Network Adapters.



Looking forward for an update.

 

Network drivers missing

Hello Timothy,

Thank you for bringing up your query on Microsoft Community.

Appreciate the steps that you have taken so far to fix this issue.

Please be assured that we will do our best to help you.

Initially, I suggest you to check if the Network option is turned on under settings.

Settings > Systems >
Notifications and actions > Select which icon appear on the task bar > toggle on
Network.

An outdated or incompatible network adapter driver can cause this problem.

Let us try to update the Network adapters and check if it helps.

• In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, and then select
  Device Manager from the list of results.
• In Device Manager, select Network adapters > the network adapter name.
• Right-click (or press and hold) the network adapter, and then select
  Update Driver Software > Search automatically for updated driver software. Follow the steps, then select
  Close.
• After installing the updated driver, select the Start button >
  Power > Restart if asked to restart, and see if that fixes the connection issue.
  

If Windows can’t find a new driver for your network adapter, visit the PC manufacturer’s website and download the latest network adapter driver from there. If your PC can't connect to the Internet, you'll need to download a driver on a
different PC and save it to a USB flash drive, so you can install the driver on your PC. You’ll need to know the PC manufacturer and model name or number.

Also, see: How to: Install
and Update drivers in Windows 10

Hope it helps.

Let us know the status, we are glad to assist you further.

 

Microsoft Network Hosted Virtual Adapter Driver uninstalled


The other day I went to start up my VPN Virtual AP for my Chromecast and iPad to connect to via my Windows 10 Machine using the following commands (have done this several times before and it has worked fine):
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NETWORKNAME key=PASSWORD
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
But to my nasty surprise, I was responded with:
The hosted network couldn’t be started.
The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.
Now I've looked everywhere online for a solution to my problem here. The underlying issue appears to be that my Microsoft Network Hosted Virtual Adapter Driver is missing in Device Manager (when showing hidden drivers). This appears to be a result of an update to my WLAN Adapter (Will list spec at end). Here are the following things I have tried:

1. Looked for Microsoft Network Hosted Virtual Adapter Driver in Device Manager as a Hidden device - Not there.
2. Disabled WLAN Adapter and Enabled to refresh drivers
3. Scanned for Hardware changed in DM
4. Tried rolling back WLAN Adapter to oldest version - 09/2015
5. Updated WLAN Adapter to latest version - 23/08/2016
6. Searched the Lenovo website for their default WLAN Adapter driver, downloaded and installed - but was the same one I had as my updated version
7. Looked for older editions of the adapter, but they either installed but didn't have the Network Hosted Virtual Adapter, or weren't compatible with my machine.
8. Restarted my machine after every change made to the network adapters
9. Uninstalled LAN Adapter and reinstalled.

What I've read is that some of the new WLAN Adapters have stopped including the Network Hosted Virtual Adapter in their installation package. Not sure how true this is but it would explain the sudden uninstallation of it.
I think that's pretty much everything. Any help or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Machine Model: Lenovo 100-15IBD
WLAN Network Driver: Realtek PCI-E Wireless LAN Driver version 2023.37.0616.2016