AC-7265 failure after applying Windows 10 ver 1511 update

[RHoro]

On 2 separate HP Spectre 360 4205dx laptops the WI-FI card ceases to function after the ver 1511 update to Windows 10 gets applied. The version of the driver that

is being used is 18.12.03. Would using the latest driver fix this issue ? Is this a known issue ?

[STill2]

I have had the same issue with a brand new HP Spectre X360. Everything worked great until the 1511 update was forced. Shortly after the reboot, the wireless driver died. HP support was not much help, but they did show me how to reinstall the driver via the HP Support Assistant. The driver reinstalled but was disabled. I enabled it via device manager and within a minute, it died and removed itself from device manager. So, I reinstalled the driver once again and this time, after rebooting, instead of enabling the device, I used the "Update Driver..." in device manager to roll the driver back to version 17.16.2.1 and have had zero problems with it since then. I think it was previously using version 18.12.0.3.

I'm not sure when it will be safe to update again, but it is working fine now on the older driver.

[STill2]

Update:

I just ran "Update Driver..." from Device Manager and let it find the best driver from the internet. It found and installed 18.30.0.9. I rebooted the computer and so far it is working without issue. Since my computer doesn't have a wired ethernet interface, rolling the driver back allowed me to access the internet and eventually download a more recent driver that did not die on me. I hope that this will help others that may have experienced the same issue. HP's solution was to send me recovery media which would have reverted to out-of-box configuration, wiping the whole computer and starting from scratch. I believe that this would have just put me back in the same predicament I was in, once the 1511 update downloaded again. Luckily, I found a way around this without having to resort to using the recovery media.

[RHoro]

This is very interesting. 18.30.0.9 is the latest and 18.12.0.3 is 2 versions older and the one I had the trouble with, I have a new spectre 360 4105x. What I did was roll back the ver 1511 and then by changing the WI-FI to use a "metered connection" which inhibits ALL windows update. So I have been running that way until I sense a solution to this very annoying problem. I was going to take a system image and then let the update go again since I already have the 18.30.0.9 driver on the machine.

[CKawa · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

Thanks for the the instructions and hints. I had the same problem with three brand new HP Spectre Laptops with the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 that I just purchased over the holidays, between Dec 24 to this weekend. I thought this was a hardware error and returned two units - what a giant waste of time! I had to do 2 extra trips to the store, and re-install my software (Office, Project, Visio etc) each time. Also included a call to MSFT, because my software license activations were used up. This time, I dug in BEFORE doing any windows updates set a restore point, made a recovery disk. Still had the same problem - updates to Window 10 Home v1511 Build 10586 caused the WLAN driver to fail! Or, it was the Windows Update KB3124266 - I did the both at the same time.

The HP does not have a LAN connection, so I was kind of worried. Based on the instructions above, I downloaded the current driver set onto another computer, and transferred it via a USB drive. Then, rebooted the HP and double clicked the EXE drivers on the USB drive. This appears to have fixed the problem. I'll update this if I have other news.

I shudder to think how average consumers would deal with this, I'm a highly experienced computer person, and this was a big challenge for me. After the first two computers failed, I googled a lot but did not run into this forum, I did not search for the right keywords I guess. Of course the sales people at Best Buy were no help. "we have not heard anything about this...you must have had a fluke hardware problem."

I used driver version 18.30.0 available from this link below. It was not obvious to find, the prior posting pointed to older driver versions.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25603/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-for-Windows-10 Download Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software for Windows® 10

Seems like Intel/Microsoft & OEMS should work a bit more closely so that Intel provides the drivers bundled when Microsoft does an update. Or, Intel should provide an "Intel Updates" system, like Windows Update, and the drivers should push out before the Microsoft updates. In my case, the forced Microsoft Update broke the system, just a few days out of the box. How are we as users supposed to know to update drivers? And when? And I found it was not even easy to find the right versions of the drivers at that...

Hope this helps everyone out there!

[RHoro]

Charlie,

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I have been having this issue since I got my Spectre in November.

1. After 2 weeks the Ver 1511 came and the WI-FI stopped.

2. Dealt with HP tech support, they decided it was the WI-FI card.

3. A tech showed up with a new Wi-FI card and the same problem - not hardware issue since it happened again.

4. PC returned to HP for "repair", they returned it without doing anything and it still did not work !

5. They then sent me an entire new Spectre and I returned the original.

6. After 2 days or so the Ver 1511 came again and out went the Wi-FI

7. I backed out the update and the Wi-FI started working again, this means the first machine was probably fine.

8. I then put the newest Wi-Fi driver on and waited for the Ver 1511 to come down again, but it did not. It seems once you reject an update

it must go add it manually yourself. I just read this yesterday.

9. I have mutlitple full image backups. I was waiting to try the ver1511 which i must use the the manual procedure as someone who would

upgrage from Windows 7 or 8.1 and supposedly it will just add the ver1511

So your post makes me feel as though this might actually work since it appears it was the driver that could not handle the Ver 1511 Windows update.

It is amazing to me the lack of expertise on such an issue from HP, can't they pull a machine off the line and try the upgrade themselves to see the problem.

And they return it to me in the same state it was when I sent it in ! Pitiful.

But I like the machine very much other than this most serious problem.

I opened this thread up to perhaps get some help and eventually I did, so the user community is better than the manufacturer, they should hand their

heads in shame ! Thank you Charlie !!!

[CKawa]

You are welcome. I actually just followed all of the hints/suggestions in this thread to figure it out.

HP and the rest of the OEMs that have this driver issue really should pull their systems out of the distribution channel/retailers and update the drivers and Windows. It seems that 100% of customers buying laptops with this driver load will be very unhappy, and having customers return laptops is very expensive. I almost switched to a Lenovo because of this, HP just about lost me as a customer.

INTEL - please inform your OEMS!

I will contact HP about this.

[RHoro]

O.K. I ran the manual Windows 10 upgrade tool and finally got Ver 1511 to run with WI-FI, Whoopee !!!

This only took 2 months and a lot of aggravation to get fixed.

[Spartannl]

Super Ranjo, glad that solved it for you!!

For me unfortunately not...

[RHoro]

I guess I won't be upgrading to Windows 10 Pro anytime soon then !

[Spartannl]

Better not indeed!

Well, hopefully Microsoft and/or Intel will come up with a solution for those who unfortunately have done so...

[Spartannl]

Next updates, still no result... anyone got an idea?

[RHoro]

AT this point you got to start thinking it's a bad WI-FI card. Mine starting working 2 updates and 3 driver updates ago.

[SJaan]

Have You ever tried drivers bundled with Windows 10 itself - 17.15.0.5

I'm asking because I'v not seen working driver version since 18.x.x.x in our corporate environment.

[ILevi2]

I have exactly the same issue on my NUC5i7RYH, same os build 10586.104. Currently on 18.32.0.5 driver version. Tried 5 older driver versions with no luck.

I'm forced to work with external usb wifi adapter... Very frustrating.

[Spartannl]

Yep, to no avail, unfortunately ...

Until either Intel and/or Microsoft have resolved this (paid) inconvenience, I and likely Yegorka and others too, are out of options.

Must again wait and see what the next Windows 10 pro build and/or new Intel AC-7265 drivers may come up with...