Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 Blue Tooth failure

Joe42 · ‎01-23-2021

Not sure if this is an Intel problem, a Windows problem or a Dell problem...

Currently I have a Dell Laptop with an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 adapter. It is running Windows 10 Home Edition 64 bit, build 19041.746.

Over the last couple months, the blue tooth would drop intermittently and would return after restarting the computer. However, I decided to check if there was a "fix" for this problem this morning and found one here which stated to uninstall the existing drivers and reinstall from BT_22.20.0_64_Win10.exe.

I proceeded to do so, and after uninstalling the drivers...rebooted the computer. When I attempted to install the drivers though, it came up with the error "This software package cannot be installed on your system."

The Device Manager no longer shows a Blue Tooth device, however it now has an "Other Devices>>Unknown Device" which I am pretty sure is the Blue Tooth device. Unfortunately, since the drivers themselves are not available to do a manual installation, I am at a loss as to how to get the device to be recognized again.

Khun_Doug · ‎01-23-2021

You don't indicate which model Dell laptop you have. Dell quite likely has their own driver for the networking devices for that laptop. I would check the Dell site for the latest driver(s) for your model laptop, and see if that install at least gets your Bluetooth working again. While you are checking for drivers for the laptop you can also look to see if there is a BIOS update for the laptop.

If you need more help, I am sure the moderator would want you to run the Intel System Support Utility and post the results. This will provide detailed info about the hardware, drivers, etc. The link to get the SSU is https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/91600/Intel-System-Support-Utility.