Tried to update NIC driver to Win 10 driver now all NICs are missing in Networks

[Bill Kalbo]

I have an ASUS P9X79pro with Win 10 ultimate? that was upgraded from Win 8. I have a multi boot system with old versions like Win 7, Win 8, etc.

I have been noticing that my Giga network will sometime reset from 1000 to 100 so decided to upgrade the drive to the Win 10, 64bit driver. The installation failed and I don’t recall what the issue was. Sorry, I didn’t expect to be in this much trouble so I just went ahead to fix the problem

The status now is that all NICs that I have or ad to the system shows up nicely in the device manager under network adapters but when I look at the Network and Sharing Center, there are no networks.

I have deleted all the network adapters, rebooted and the devices are repopulated in device manager but no networks are available in the Network and Sharing Center.

I have tried adding various other network adapters like 2 USB Giga Ethernet adapters and 3 different WiFi USB devices. 4 of them are new, Win 10 compatible devices. They all show up in device manager and nothing in Network and Sharing Center.

Basically, it sees the network adapters in device manager but the Network and Sharing Center says I don’t have any devices.

I tried to restore to before the diver update but I don’t have a restoration point. I also don’t have a backup to restore.

It looks like I need to remove all network software from Win 10 and reinstall it.

Any ideas how to fix this?

 

[Trouble]

You might try resetting the TCP/IP Stack as well as the Winsock Catalog
Right click the Start Button and choose Command Prompt (Admin) and in the command prompt window type
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
hit enter
then type
netsh Winsock reset
hit enter
then type
exit
hit enter
Restart your computer
See if that works for you.

Otherwise, check with ASUS
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P9X79_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/
Download and install the latest driver they have for your Intel NIC.
While there double check and confirm that you have the latest Chipset, Storage Controller and BIOS firmware.

 

[Bill Kalbo]

I tried your suggestion but it resolved nothing.
I already contacted ASUS but installing their driver is where the problem started.
I think this is a Win 10 issue,

Any Ideas on how to remove all the network components and then reinstall them?

 

[Trouble]

Any Ideas on how to remove all the network components and then reinstall them?

Nope not really, not if you can't see your actual network adapters, and.....
Network components are not physical devices, they are the bits and pieces of software that actually support the hardware.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731514(v=ws.10).aspx

Right click the start button and choose run and in the run dialog box type
ncpa.cpl
hit enter or click OK.
IF there is nothing listed there then Windows.... The Operating System does not know of any physical hardware.
IF there are adapters listed there, then right clicking and choosing properties will provide the information as to the network components as a list in the box labeled "This device uses the following items".

Personally, I haven't done anything like that since Windows XP and as I recall, that particular experience did not turn out well.

Individual physical Network Interface Cards (NICs) can be removed /uninstalled from device manager and in the process you can select to remove the drivers also.
Those drivers may automatically be re-installed upon a system reboot if the device(s) remain connected to the computer and the OS detects them.

 

[Saltgrass]

I like to uninstall a device and remove all drivers associated with it which you can do in Device Manger. Just check the box when you uninstall, as Trouble mentions.

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/P9X79_PRO/HelpDesk_Download/

Before you do that, go to the site linked and download drivers. Get them ready so you won't have to be online to install them. If you have not used the ASUS drivers available earlier you may want to do that, especially chipset drivers if they are available.

As a note, I have seen drivers loaded for one OS influence the operation of that same device when booted into another OS.

 

[Bill Kalbo]

Saltgrass

Thanks for the suggestion but I've already done that. When I try to reinstall the Asus drivers, the package runs normally and then hangs for 4-5 minutes. Then I get a message: Cannot install drivers. No Intel(R) Adapters ate present in this computer"

 

[Saltgrass]

Your system is showing an Intel 82579V adapter. There were some problems with certain where the letter V was not being picked up correctly. You might check and make sure your system is picking it up as a V and if not, what is it showing.

There is a procedure to install the drivers directly by picking the correct device but I will have to see if I can remember how to do that. I will get back.

You did load the chipset drivers?

 

[Saltgrass]

OK, try this. Extract the downloaded LAN driver and open the folder. Go to Pro1000, Winx64, then NDIS64. Inside you will find a bunch of install (.inf) files. Look for the one e1c64x64.inf and right click and select install...

Hopefully, it will find the adapter and install the drivers.

If that doesn't work, see if you can look for drivers for the device in Windows. You may be able to find a driver already loaded in the Windows list.

 

[Bill Kalbo]

Saltgrass

Thanks for the suggestion but I've already done that. When I try to reinstall the Asus drivers, the package runs normally and then hangs for 4-5 minutes. Then I get a message: Cannot install drivers. No Intel(R) Adapters are present in this computer"

 

[Bill Kalbo]

I'll try that but I think you are missing one point. EVERY network device that I install shows up in the Device Manager but then they do not show up in Network and Sharing Center; there are no networks. If I boot into another Win 10 installation, everything is fine.

 

[Saltgrass]

If you don't have a driver installed the device will not show in the ncpa.cpl panel. If you look in Device Manager, they should show with a yellow triangle/code 24 or some such.

If you have tried to install multiple network adapters and none of them will install, perhaps the installer utility is bad or something is blocking your system somehow. Did you have any problems installing the Chipset drivers?

I have seen an Intel Network Adapter driver installer show the "can't find device" message and the process using the .inf file allowed it to install normally. Seems that also is not working for your system.

When you try to install, are you getting any messages in the Event Viewer? If you show the device in Device Manager, can you look at properties and check the Event tab to see if it shows a problem?

When you uninstall a device in Device Manager, make sure and check for any instances hidden by selecting the option to show hidden devices. You should also uninstall those instances.

 

[Saltgrass]

You might also try running a System File Check... SFC /scannow.

My Windows 10 systems on Z87 and X99 Asus boards seem fine so hard to believe it is strictly a Win 10 situation. Is this other Win 10 install you can boot to on the same computer or another computer?

 

[Bill Kalbo]

Saltgrass

Thanks for the suggestion but I've already done that. When I try to reinstall the Asus drivers, the package runs normally and then hangs for 4-5 minutes. Then I get a message: Cannot install drivers. No Intel(R) Adapters ate present in this computer"

 

[Saltgrass]

I just installed a new Intel Wi-Fi adapter on my system today. I had no problems installing a driver for the new device.... I wonder why you are having such problems.