Windows 10: Wireless adapter disappeared after Windows update

My friend has an odd issue. His internet stopped working after an update. It turned out that he no longer has a wireless adapter "installed." I went to HP's support site, but they only had drivers for Windows 8.1, and there were 5 different ones, at that. I tried installing them one at a time and rebooting, then uninstalling, but none of them re-enabled the adapter. I'm stumped on this. I tried tethering my phone and checking Windows Updates, but there's none. So how do I get this driver working again? It's an HP Envy dv6.

:)

 

WiFi function removed in Surface Pro 2 after installation of Windows 10

I have the same issue. The solution provided doesn't work, because the wireless adapter has disappeared after installing Window 10.

No wifi icon in task bar.

No wifi icon in action centre.

No wifi adapter in Network Adapters.

It seems to work fine in Windows 8.1.

 

Wifi settings tab is missing, can't search for wireless network

WiFi settings tab suddenly disappeared and currently unable to search for wireless network after a Bluetooth USB dongle was repeatedly connected and disconnected because of loose USB port, wireless adapter is connected properly uninstalled and re-installed
drivers and even changed wireless adapter and problem remains the same.

 

If you uninstall the wireless device in Device Manager and reboot Windows should find a new device and install generic drivers for it.

 

He can try uninstalling the update just to make it work again if he needs the computer badly. But try the suggestion above me first.

 

What does device manager show for a wifi adapter if at all?

 

There is no WiFi adapter in Device Manager. That's what I mean by "disappeared."

 

You should be able to go to the HP support page for that Envy model, and download the Wi-Fi driver (you may even be able to get the site to recognize the PC and look up its configuration). If you reinstall the driver manually, it should once again appear in DevMgr. I've had similar problems on HP and Dell laptops and tablets when a new install doesn't include drivers for the network adapter in use. This is also painfully and especially true for the Atheros/Killer network interfaces (my son has a Dell XPS2701 AIO machine that is prone to losing its Wi-Fi interface for this very reason).
HTH,
--Ed--

 

I took out the battery and found the exact model the WiFi interface is, but the drivers don't seem to work. Nothing new is appearing in the Device Manager and I've tried installing "legacy hardware" and selected the x64 Win10 inf, but the Manufacturer and Device columns are empty and I can't move forward.

I forgot to mention, the Wireless button on this laptop (F12) is and always is orange, and pressing it enables or disables airplane mode. Doesn't turn on wireless or Bluetooth.

EDIT: One of the drivers from the HP support site created a Ralink WiFi adapter in the Device Manager, that only shows when hidden devices are shown. The properties/status says driver is installed but the device is not connected. WTF?

 

Click on start button select Settings from menu, select Network and Internet, select WiFi and make sure it is turned on.

If wireless is on, search for HP connection Manager using Windows search and see if it will allow you to turn wireless on.

If not search for Windows Mobility Center using Windows search and see if you can turn on wireless there.

If all of the above fails uninstall the HP Connections Manager. Repeat step 1 above and see if that changes things

 

HP requires a special driver installed for the Wireless Button to work, it could be this driver is not installed or not installed properly. Try re-installing the wireless button driver.

 

He never had Connections Manager installed. I tried a fresh install of Windows 10 and there is no version of HP Connection Manager for Windows 10. They all say "this was intended for an older version of Windows." In Mobile Center, there is no Wireless option, either. It's odd.

Windows Update installed that. It didn't change the color of the F12 key, or enable wireless.

 

You can't always count on Windows Update to install the correct driver. The symptom here is that the drive button isn't working to enable the wireless, so i'd focus on getting the correct driver installed.

 

How will it enable the wireless if there's no wireless adapter installed?

 

Let's start here:

What is the exact model number of the laptop?

DV6- XXXX

Post screenie of Device Manager, expand network adapters and unknown device headers as appropriate.