Question No Network Availability and BSOD on older PC

Jan 11, 2023
17
0
10
Hi, I'm not sure which forum this issue would be best directed to, as I suspect there may be deeper issues at play, but I'll ask here anyway. I also don't have my full specs on hand, but it's an older PC, and off the top of my head, I believe it's an Intel Core i7, 3.5 ghz, 16 GB RAM, still running Win 7 sp1.


Earlier today, this PC experienced a BSOD while I was away. Upon reboot, it began experiencing difficulty connecting to the internet. Networks were detected, but no packets were sent, and any attempted to connect resulted in a Limited Connectivity notification.

The Windows Automated Diagnostic tool hanged for several minutes while resetting the network adapter, and finally concluded it was a router issue. It was not; I tested the situation with several other devices, and several other networks; the issue was my PC.

I ran several antivirus scans with Windows security and Malwarebytes, which detected nothing. I then tried to reboot the PC, but after hanging on the "Shutting Down" screen for 15 minutes, the PC BSODd and crashed again.

I restarted it, and found that the PC now fails to detect ANY networks.

There are also several other minor issues I've noticed, which I'm not sure are related (COM surrogate crash, explorer hangs while accessing external storage, abnormal low hum from the case)

Any advice?
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Ideally we need you to state the specs to your build. Perhaps if you can find the make and model of your motherboard and if it came bundled with a wireless adapter would help or you could state what the make and model of the adapter is if it's USB driven. If your PC has an Ethernet port, why not tether an Ethernet cable from your ISP's device to the port on your motherboard?

Make and model of your wireless router? BSoD's can happen due to a corruption in your OS or a conflict with your driver, device(both for the adapter) with the OS.
 
Jan 11, 2023
17
0
10
I don't have access to the full specs currently, ufortunately. I'm currently away from home, and while normally I'd just fire up the ol' remote access and get the specs, I can't do that due to the lack of internet!

I believe the wireless adapter was bundled; I certainly never installed it. And I have not had a chance to try an Ethernet cable yet (picking up a new one today); would that be the best next step?
 
Jan 11, 2023
17
0
10
Update - ok, the router is a Pace/AT&T 5031N.

(again, I doubt the router is the issue, as we have numerous devices connected w/ no problem, including the PC pre-BSOD)

The network adapter is a Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NEC
and Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

brb for motherboard; Ethernet cable is being troublesome

edit- can't find motherboard info in device manager or systems report. Medically unable to open the case now, too. Sorry, hope that's enough info


edit- managed to wrestle an Ethernet cable; just barely reaches w/my setup.

PC is connected now, and can access the internet.

I would guess that means it's a failure with the wireless adapter, then? Software or hardware?
 
Last edited:
You can look in the event monitor maybe it will give you a better clue why it failed.

If you have done the standard power off/on the computer and the wifi does not work then it likely is a hardware thing. Make sure the event monitor doesn't show something stupid like windows update ran just before and updated a driver or something.

I would also try a IPCONFIG /all and see if the wifi adapter appears in the system.
 
Jan 11, 2023
17
0
10
You can look in the event monitor maybe it will give you a better clue why it failed.

If you have done the standard power off/on the computer and the wifi does not work then it likely is a hardware thing. Make sure the event monitor doesn't show something stupid like windows update ran just before and updated a driver or something.

I would also try a IPCONFIG /all and see if the wifi adapter appears in the system.
I don't really know enough about event logging to know what to look for, but there doesn't seem to be anything pertinent logged. Judging from the System logs, the BSOD that heralded the end of my ability to detect wifi occured at 11:16. Nothing of note was logged immediatley before that time.

There does seem to have been a problem with Bluetooth failing just after I connected the Ethernet cable, and a second crash/reboot while I was away, about an hour after the first.

Re IPCONFIG, I'm not seeing a wifi adapter. There are entries for Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection, and three entries for Tunnel adapters (all disconnected)

I had that same problem when working on older windows 7 computers at my old store. solution was simple, upgrade to windows 10. Fixed it instantly
If God intended us to use Windows 10, He would not have given us 7.
 
I guess you can see if the device appears in the device manager. I suspect it either does not or if it does it has some kind of error condition.

Normally you can get a wifi interface pretty inexpensively. Your big issue is going to be finding one that has drivers for win7. Maybe try to find one that uses the same chipset as your current one.
A lot of the newest ones for example only run 64bit drivers which means they do not even work on some windows 10 machines.
 
Jan 11, 2023
17
0
10
I believe it appears in the device manager (Realtek 221AE Wireless Adapter), although IPCONFIG/all doesn't show anything.

This PC can run 64-bit, although it does need a major overhaul and upgrade (especially the video card, which will be needed for productivity software) and we've been planning on buying, or building, a whole new one.

If Win7 compatible drivers are an issue right now, I might just wait and stay with the cable for now.