Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
1 Rookie
•
11 Posts
0
3173
June 29th, 2017 21:00
reinstall wireless network adapter on different operating system
I'm trying to find out if there's any way to reinstall a wireless adapter on a Windows 7 computer that's now running Windows 10.
I have an XPS 8500 that came with Windows 7 and I upgraded to Windows 10 when Microsoft was giving it away for free. Recently my hard drive failed and I had a new one installed by Microsoft Store. Everything worked fine for months but the other day my wireless adapter started having problems.
Long story short, I uninstalled it and now I can't reinstall it because the Dell installer says the current system isn't supported. But somehow Microsoft managed to reinstall all my devices and drivers that originally came with the computer and I'm hoping I can, too.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks in advance.
robert p
4 Operator
•
9.4K Posts
0
June 30th, 2017 05:00
Hi therealjampony,
Thanks for posting.
Since Windows 10 is not supported on this computer, Windows 8 and 8.1 is, sometimes the drivers for Win 8 will work with Win 10, have you tried installing those? The Dell support site does not have a driver for Win 8, but you could consult with the manufacturer's website for the wireless network adapter and see if they have a driver there.
To find which wireless network adapter you have installed, go to the support website and enter your service tag, look for the tab that says system configuration.
tangerine11
1 Rookie
•
11 Posts
0
June 30th, 2017 17:00
I checked with the manufacturer before I posted my question here. Unfortunately they can't provide support or drivers for consumers. I guess I'll just buy a new one, which isn't the worst thing. An upgrade could be cool.
Thanks for replying so quickly, though. I appreciate it.
Philip_Yip
9 Legend
•
16.1K Posts
0
July 1st, 2017 07:00
Dell actually do have the wireless driver for Windows 10 for that model they just don't list it on drivers and downloads...
First provide the hardware IDs. See here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/checking-hardware-ids-in-the-device-manager/
The latest drivers listed by Hardware ID are available here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/dell-wireless-cards/