Windows Update broke Wirless driver - Can't get it working again

Posted by private_meta on Super User See other posts from Super User or by private_meta
Published on 2014-06-11T18:22:36Z Indexed on 2014/06/12 15:29 UTC
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I naively installed a driver update incoming from Windows Updates yesterday. That caused my Wifi on my Notebook (HP ELitebook 2740p) to break. The network is working as I tried it with my other mobile devices.

When installing said driver, it told me that the installation failed. I tried to do a system restore, which did not help getting wifi connectivity back. The device said it was working, but did not get any wifi connection and did not discover any networks.

What I tried next was to uninstall the device from my Device Manager and install either the current drivers found through windows, then I tried the same with the current drivers on the HP driver page. both of those attempts failed. It always tells me that installation failed when I uninstall and reinstall drivers. If I try to update the broken driver via internet, it tells me it is up to date, and in the device manager it still views as broken.

Next, I 'played' around a bit and reinstalled drivers, and I managed to install drivers from 2012, and when trying to update drivers manually and picking drivers that match the device, it lets me choose between drivers from 2010 and 2014. 2014 would be the current one, picking the 2010 driver leads to the driver being accepted. However, no wireless network can be found.

I'm pretty much out of ideas by now, short of reinstalling. The only option I can still think of was that the device broke at the exact moment I installed the new windows driver, but I find that a bit unlikely. Any help would be appreciated fixing this issue.

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