[SOLVED] Gigabyte Z490 AORUS Master or ASUS Z490 driver installation issue on Windows 10

[DavisV]

I recently purchased two new Z490 motherboards(ASUS & Gigabyte AORUS Master) and encountered the driver installation issue. When I installed the drivers on the CD, it said installation complete, but I still couldn't access the internet and the device manager also show the network adapter status with a yellow exclamation mark. I had tried to download the drivers directly from ASUS and Gigabyte website by using another PC and to be installed onto the new PC but unfortunately it didn't change the behavior. After trying random things for two days, I finally figured out the root cause and was able to get it resolved.

Root Cause:
The Windows 10 version that I was using is from 2016 which the version(10.0.14393 update version 1607) and it is not compatible with the new drivers.

Resolution:
Need to upgrade Windows 10 to the latest version. But since the new PC can't access the internet, need to create an installation media USB by using another PC. Below are the steps.

1. On the working PC(with internet access), follow the instruction on the following link to create the installation media USB. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
2. Once the installation media USB is created successfully, move the USB stick to the new PC.
3. Open the USB drive on the PC and click on setup. Follow the instruction on the screen to complete the upgrade. Once it's done, restart the PC and try to reinstall the drivers from the motherboard driver CD again.
4. Restart the PC, then done. The internet should be accessible at this point.

Hopefully this helps...

 

[Colif]

Always a good idea to get a New Installer when installing win 10 as there is a new version update every 6 months and it will save you time after its installed as less patches will be needed to get you up to date.