AC7265 Driver

[PhilC1]

Hi All,

I have an HP Envy 13 with the AC7265 Wireless module. I continually get  Intel reminders telling me that there is a new driver for my laptop and to update it. However, when I attempt to do this with the Intel software update reminder, I am told that I have a later driver already installed. How can this be? I have never been able to update it ????  

Help please

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

First of all, let's summarize the situation...

The last driver release that included support for this discontinued Wireless adapter varies based upon the version of the module that you have:

• If you have the 7265-C version, then the last Wireless package is v21.10.1 and the last Bluetooth package is v21.10.1. Note that these packages support Windows 10 only; their use within Windows 11 is not supported/guaranteed.
• If you have the 7265-D version, then the last Wireless package is v23.40.0 and the last Bluetooth package is v23.40.1.

Note that I am giving you package version numbers. If you need driver version numbers for comparison, here they are:

• If you have the 7265-C version, then the last Wireless driver is v18.33.17.1 and the last Bluetooth driver is v20.100.5.1. Again, note that these are Windows 10 drivers; their use within Windows 11 is not supported/guaranteed.
• If you have the 7265-D version, then the last Wireless driver is v19.51.50.2 and the last Bluetooth driver is 20.100.10.11.

Since Intel refuses to provide any support, including downloads, for discontinued products, the driver packages are not guaranteed to be present on the Intel site (there are a few exceptions). I have set up a share to make these drivers consistently available. Use this link to access my share. Subfolders provide the driver packages based upon adapters supported.

Ok, that out of the way, let's talk about the Intel Driver & Support Assistant (DSA) application...

Sadly, there are *many* places where DSA offers you updates that do not apply to your Intel components. In most cases, this is benign and these updates simply fail to install. There are cases, however, where they partially install and this results in the adapters not working (not connecting).

What you need to do is as follows:

1. Uninstall the Bluetooth and Wireless driver packages that have been installed.
2. Download from my share and Install the final packages that I documented above.
3. If (I shudder to say it's often 'when') DSA offers you an update, permanently hide this update.

Once the updates are hidden, DSA should not, in theory, offer you any updates subsequently. That is, of course, in a perfect world. DSA has its issues and this problem may come back after a while. I can't do anything about it, hopefully Intel will...

Hope this helps,

...S

[PhilC1]

Thanks so much for your reply- its very helpful but I still have a problem that stops me moving forward:-

Device manager only describes the Adaptor as AC7265. How can I find the version number?

My current driver is 19.51.30.1

Thanks 

PhilC1

[PhilC1]

when the the DSA scans my machine, it detects AC7265D so i will assume(so trusting the DSA) that this is the version of the module

Also, please can you advise how to 'Hide' the new update after executing the downloaded file.

Thanks

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

Here's a quick tutorial. I am going to use a Graphics Driver update as an example. Here's what I see initially:

I next click on the down arrow for the driver to display its information:

I click on the Hide Just This Update button:

As you can see, I now have a Hidden Updates column. I click on the column

We can see the entry for the driver we've hidden. In our case, since only update, it is automatically opened. If you have multiple drivers hidden, you might have to click on the down arrow for this driver. We can see in the small window a the bottom that it is hidden for one week. To hide forever, we click in the window to see the choices:

We select Hide Forever:

After clicking on the Refresh Results button, we no longer see this update in the list of available updates (but it's still there in the Hidden Updates if we need it back):

That's it. Job completed.

Hope this helps,

...S

[PhilC1]

I am looking now at deleting the old driver package. Can I do this by uninstalling the BT and Wifi programme files in Device Manager or is this going to leave some unwanted remnants in the system?

regds

PhilC

[n_scott_pearson]

Hah! Good question. Here is my procedure for getting it done as cleanly as possible:

1. If you haven't already, download to your PC - but do not install just yet - the proper Bluetooth and Wireless driver packages.
2. Most important! Disable Internet access. Unplug Ethernet cable and/or disable wireless. Keep disabled until told to re-enable. Note this Wireless disable *must* be of type that will persist (stay disabled) across reboots.
3. From the Apps & Features applet, check for instances of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Intel Wireless Bluetooth. If none, skip to Step 6.
4. Uninstall each instance of Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and/or Intel Wireless Bluetooth that is present. When prompted, choose "Discard Settings".
5. Manually reboot your computer, keeping Internet access disabled throughout.
6. From the Device Manager applet, check the Network Adapters section for an entry for Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 and check the Bluetooth section for an entry for Intel Wireless Bluetooth that has an intel driver associated with it. If neither is the case, go forward to Step 12.
7. Right click on the entry for Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 and uninstall it, choosing (checkmark) Delete the driver software for this device.
8. Repeat step 7 until the option to Delete the driver software for this device is greyed out.
9. Right click on the entry for Intel Wireless Bluetooth and open its properties. If it has an Intel driver associated with it, then uninstall it, choosing to (checkmark) Delete the driver software for this device.
10. Repeat step 9 until the option to Delete the driver software for this device is not offered (greyed out).
11. Go back to Step 5.
12. Install the downloaded Bluetooth driver package (my rule: always install Bluetooth first).
13. Install the downloaded Wireless driver package.
14. Manually shutdown and reboot your computer.
15. Reenable Internet access. Restore Ethernet cable and/or reenable wireless.
16. Test.

Note: It sometimes takes multiple uninstall (and reboot) cycles to clean out the old installations, so don't give up on the process. If you get to, say, 10 reboot cycles, stop there and attempt the installation of the latest drivers.

Hope this helps,

...S

[PhilC1]

Thanks again. No action yet. Taking it steady!
I am so glad I asked the question - possible pitfalls here!

I will report my results.

Thanks again

[PhilC1]

I am now having trouble disabling the wifi across re-boots. Attempting booting into safe mode is not responding to F2 button. On a re-start I get 'Configuring Windows. Dont turn off your computer' and it takes a long time finishing in normal mode. Not sure whats going on now. Latest BT and wifi files have been down loaded.
PhilC1

[PhilC1]

I have solved the internet disabling issue simply by disconnecting the router.

I have installed the Bluetooth successfully with the correct driver showing in the Device manager.

After spending several hours trying to install the latest drivers, I have found something very strange with  the Wifi adaptor installation

The new Wifi software package will not install. The installation is blocked with the following message:-

'Installation Blocked'     'A Newer Product version is already installed'   (Internet access inactive)

This is after the Wireless module and its driver were uninstalled repeatedly until the 'Delete Driver' option disappeared. Despite uninstalling the Wifi Module so that it no longer showed in the network adaptor list, the AC7265 re-appeared in the Device manager along with its old driver after re-booting.

I think that the Windows Plug and play is finding the module after the re-boot and assigning the original driver. 

In order to install the new driver package , it seems that the original driver must be located and deleted. Is it this simple?

Hopefully this will cause the P&P process to look for the new driver.

Current driver location:-

C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers\vwifibus.sys

C:\WINDOWS\system32\IntelWifihv04.dll

These addresses from Device Manager Network adaptor Driver details .

Can you help please?

regds PhilC1

[PhilC1]

Strange that the Wifi Driver is not uninstalled during the WiFi adaptor uninstall process despite checking the box? If this was the case , The P&P re-installation after re-boot  would not find it?

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

Hhmmm... the only way I can think of this happening is if you don't follow my instructions (above) exactly. Specifically, if you have an Ethernet connection available during WU's enumeration, then WU could provide a driver of some sort.

...S

[PhilC1]

Thanks for your reply. No ethernet cable. Wifi router unplugged and powered off. The original Wifi driver was still on the system after the uninstall. This has been happening for many months with the same message when the DSA regularly and repeatedy attempts to update my old driver This was happening before I attempted to install the new driver. Notably, the bluetooth driver was removed after the uninstall and the new driver successfully installed. I am thinking that it might be an HP related issue. Additionally? I was successful in installing the new BT driver so following your instructions .
Many thanks for your help. I will let you know my results. One final question-please can you tell me where the driver install location would be for the new Wifi driver?
Best regards

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

The BT driver's installer is designed to overinstall the Microsoft driver (which doesn't work well (if at all) with Intel adapters), so that shouldn't be an issue.

The Wireless driver that is being installed - is it marked as being from Microsoft or from Intel? [Check the driver tab in the devices' properties (in Device Manager)]

...S

[PhilC1]

Many thanks for your reply.

The 'driver provider' on the Driver Tab is marked Microsoft.  Driver version 19.51.15.3

Regds

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

Is this on Windows 11? We (@LeonWaksman and I) developed the algorithm on Windows 10. Maybe we need to re-think this. Hhmmm... try this: if you see driver is from Microsoft, uninstall and immediately begin install of 'new' package from Intel. That is, without reboot.
...S

[PhilC1]

Its Windows 10!

[PhilC1]

Cant uninstall driver from Device manager - no option.

Uninstalled the wireless module and tried to update the driver getting the message:-

'The best drivers are already installed'

Also attempted to load the Intel package immediately after uninstalling the module and the driver(?) got the same message:-

'Installation Blocked'  -   'A Newer Product version is already installed' 

I get this message every time I try to execute the Intel Install package whether the module  is installed or not. 

regds 

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

Can't uninstall from Windows Update? Sure you can.

Right click on the entry for the device and select Uninstall. Choose to also delete associated software. Do not reboot; install the 'new' driver immediately.

...S

[PhilC1]

Sorry to be so stupid but pls talk me thro this. Where in WU do I see my device?

I uninstalled from Device manager but I no longer see any box to delete the associated driver software.

I got this from the Intel software installer log showing errors:-

[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i000: OnDetectPackageComplete: PackageId=DocsManager, State=Absent, Status=0
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i101: Detected package: NetFx462Web, state: Present, cached: None
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i101: Detected package: Pre_Install, state: Absent, cached: None
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i101: Detected package: WIFI_Driver, state: Absent, cached: None
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i101: Detected package: DocsManager, state: Absent, cached: None
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i000: OnDetectComplete: Status=0
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]e000: Unable to detect bundle packages
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:05]i199: Detect complete, result: 0x0
[2214:29C4][2025-08-30T00:28:21]i000: LogFolderLink_RequestNavigate()
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:30]i500: Shutting down, exit code: 0x65
[2214:24B8][2025-08-30T00:28:30]i000: OnShutdown: Result=None

regds

PhilC1

[n_scott_pearson]

Me bad; I meant to say Device Manager.

If the driver came from MS, there might not be any software associated with it.

Ok, you deleted the driver and immediately started the install of the 'new' driver package?

...S