Networking → [Windows] Not connected, no connections are available

My Dad is having the following problem. Using Win7 64bit, and trying to connect to the local network via a USB wifi stick and also with a pci wifi card, he is still given the same message on the network icon in the taskbar.

The drivers installed fine on both pieces of hardware (installed separately) downloaded from Asus and showed up in device manager, but no adapters were listed in the Network and Sharing center.

Anyone have any ideas what to try next? Is this possibly a hardware issue on his motherboard? (Asus M489GTD-USBPro)

That is strange, not showing up in Sharing center means Windows does not think they exist. At first blush sounds like a driver issue.

Just for fun from the command line type: ipconfig /all
Ignore any the tunnel adapters, those are IPv6. See what shows up. I assume PC has built in Ethernet so if you do not at least see an Ethernet adapter there is a problem with the Windows TCP/IP stack. Do you know if you dad is able to connect the PC to the router with Ethernet? If so that indicates the PC is working correctly but there is a problem with the Wi-Fi adapters.

/tom

Was your dad ever able to connect? If so, how and what is new since then? Adapter, router, USB, PC?

Any errors under "Device Status" for the driver?

Thanks for your patience so I just talked to him and got the following info.

This is what showed up from ipconfig /all

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State.....................: Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix..:
Description.....................: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address................: -------------------
DHCP Enabled....................: Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled.......: Yes

And then under that were two more entries under titles of Tunnel Adapter

That means Ethernet cable is unplugged, which is to be expected since he is trying to use Wi-Fi. Windows does not see either of the Wi-Fi adapters. Since you already checked Device Manager and they are not flagged as failed looks like a driver issue. Windows found the hardware.

I assume he never tried to connect using Ethernet.

You can always try removing/installing the drivers or use Device Manager to see if there are newer ones available. Perhaps the drivers don't like 64-bit Windows.

/tom

Ok,

Yep I already tried that on both devices. Downloaded the official Win7 64Bit drivers from Asus, uninstalled the devices and drivers and then reinstalled the downloaded drivers but still. Windows show the devices as working properly in device manager, but no adapters are available in the Network Centre.

is the router on "MAC authenication"?

I have no clue, I'd have to go out to my parents to find out about that.

Just had another thought - Ipconfig is not showing a MAC address. This is hard coded into the hardware and should be showing even thought it is not connected. This points back to a Windows TCP/IP stack problem.

I'm pretty much winging it at this point. From the "Network and Sharing Center" click on "change adapter settings" Hover over the "Local Area Connection" icon and right click. Click on "Properties" and make sure "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) is checked.

You can go back to "Local Area Connection" and try hitting "Diagnose" not sure if it will try to fix the IP stack or just say connect Ethernet cable.

You can also try resetting the TCP/IP stack. I've linked to the MS knowledge base article. Since it is not able to connect use the "let me fix it myself" option
»support.microsoft.com/kb/299357

/tom

That would prevent the computer from connecting but the adapters will still show up in the PC.

This is a lower layer problem.

/tom

Is the Mac Address the same as Physical address, because if so I just blanked that out in my original post.

Yes.

Still worth trying the commands I mentioned.

/tom

Then yes, ipconfig is listing a mac address then. Sorry for the initial confusion.

So I had my follow the instructions from the microsoft link but still the same result. No connections available.

No connections available is a high level fault. Did he check to see if Windows at least sees either of the Wi-Fi adapters now?

At this point I'd try to connect your father's PC to wired Ethernet to see if that works. If it doesn't need to troubleshoot the computer.

If it does I'm pretty much at a loss other then to try some other USB Wi-Fi dongle. If he is not too far away install them in your PC to see what happens. Don't actually need to connect to a wireless network, of course that would be ideal, just see if Windows sees them as network adapters.

/tom

I think what is needed is some context. Is this the first time his PC is trying to connect to that router? If not, what happened between when he could and couldn't. What's new to the situation. Even if all you can figure out is when it happened, a system restore back before that point might help.

Another thing you might try is starting the PC with last known drivers, but how you do that depends on the computer. Do you know what model computer he is?

1. Yes, first time
2. The computer is a self built
3. Wireless has never been used with PC except for a Rogers Stick
4. Will see if I can run a cable from the router to the PC

If the devices both show up in Device Manager successfully but do not show up in the Adapter page, what might that indicate

What model motherboard is inside? Also, what is a "Rogers Stick"? Last, how comfortable are you going into the registry?

1. Asus M489GTD-USBPro
2. Roger's LTE stick for mobile
3. Very comfortable

Check to make sure the required services are running. Windows Key + R > services.msc then sort by name and make sure Plug and Play service, Network and Dial-up Connections service, and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) are all started. Might even want to restart each service too.

If that doesn't work, its time to dig in the registry. Before you touch anything though, BACK UP the registry!!! See link below for how. Then drill down to "HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network" and delete the "config" in the window to the right. Reboot the PC and the OS should rebuild it.

Then from a elevated command prompt, type "winmgmt /clearadap" which will then restart the Plug and Play services tied to the PC detection network connections.

»support.microsoft.com/kb/322756 Registry Backup

I followed the steps in the first section and rebooted but the problem remains the same.

I then backed up the registry and did the following instructions you gave, rebooted but still the same problem.

I then opened up a command prompt as administrator and typed in the command you gave (winmgmt /clearadap) but was given the error invalid parameter.

Not sure why it wouldn't work. Try winmgmt /? to see what parameters would fit. Here is article I was fallowing

»support.microsoft.com/kb/266416

Also I was reading this article

»www.sevenforums.com/netw ··· nal.html

That solved it by upgrading the chipset drivers, which would be

»dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASU ··· Win7.zip

I have no clue why this worked but after installing the chipset driverrs you linked to HH (and thanks for that and your help with this), I came across someone mentioning to uninstall all AV software. So I did just that and removed Avast and WHAM, the PC now sees the adapter and I was able to connect.

Thank you so very much for helping me get this resolved.

Weird, Avast was blocking it? Wow, never would have saw that coming. Maybe it blocked the registry entry somehow? Nice catch.

Thanks for the follow up - nice to see you found the root cause.

Agree with Hard Harry7 that is strange. In order to check stuff being downloaded AV software typically install a shim in the TCP/IP stack to gain viability into traffic.

Have to admit pretty effective antivirus software if you cannot connect to the Internet. On balance I have to wonder if some of the antivirus programs out there are more trouble then they are worth.

/tom