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(Solved) - How to install network adapter driver on windows 7?

(24 posts)

I own a satellite c655. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I clean installed Windows 8 Pro and all devices worked after the installation. I guess the hardware for some windows 8 machines is not backward compatible with previous windows versions with some OEMs. I would contact Toshiba for a definitive answer on that question.


I just did a clean installation of Windows 7 Home Premium. I need to find out how to get the drivers needed on that machine. I can't even connect to the internet with it to download them from the laptop itself.

Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1
AMD E-300 APU with Radeon (tm) HD Graphics 1.30 GHz
Installed memory: 4 GB
System: 64-bit OS

When ever doing a clean install you should have your drivers BEFORE you do the installation. Now you will have to use another machine and download the drivers you need from the manufacturer's website. Lesson learned!

If it's a 'custom built' pc (as in, not branded [Acer, Dell, HP etc]) you will have to check the motherboard and look for the brand (ASUS, Intel, Gigabyte etc) AND the product number (ie ASUS P8P67, Intel DH67CL etc), the go to the brand's support website, search for the product and download the driver.

If it's a brand pc, simply go to the brand's support website and search for the model # of your pc, get drivers from there.

I'm the one who did the clean installation Presence. This is not the first time I've done it either. I'm using my PC to post this question and my laptop with the missing drivers is next to me. This PC is my other machine and I got no problem with downloading the drivers however, I am just curious why it is that Windows didn't auto detect the drivers. I guess I learned that lesson a long time ago.

This is my mom's computer and it had Windows 8 on it. I formatted the drive and converted the GPT disk to MBR. I just wanted to know if anyone here could point me in the right direction to download my specific drivers. Thanks!

In this case, go to the laptops' manufacturer site, search for your model on the support page and get the drivers there.

Hello 'afuhnk'. It is actually a Toshiba Satellite like this one
I will head to their site then and download them there then if that IS the solution. Thanks!

You are missing a few drivers. based on the info given in the original post is why I answered how I did. It does not matter who did the installation because all I had to go by was what was posted by Elf.

How come I don't see the drivers that I need from this list?? All I see is this. Am I missing something here?
I thought that I would see the missing drivers from my list (network controller, etc)

Install Network Adaptor Windows 7

Your machine may have been made to run Windows 8. Toshiba may not have written device drivers for the hardware in that machine for other versions of windows.

I tried selecting Windows 7 x64 and most drivers were not listed.
If you DON'T select any OS from the list, the Wireless drivers are listed.
Try installing those.

I own a satellite c655. It came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I clean installed Windows 8 Pro and all devices worked after the installation. I guess the hardware for some windows 8 machines is not backward compatible with previous windows versions with some OEMs. I would contact Toshiba for a definitive answer on that question.

Completely understood Presence. You are also right when you say that someone should have the drivers before doing this, however, as far as I knew, Windows 7 always detected the drivers automatically. Elf is actually my cousin. He started doing a partition on Windows 8 and something went wrong. I clean installed W7 and expected everything to be just fine. It just so happens that it didn't. Tough luck...

I will do just that Presence. I appreciate your advice. Thanks a lot!

when you click to download as afuhnk suggests a description of the driver appears first and it says it is a windows 8 driver for the LAN (both Atheros versions).

Not your fault. In previous versions of windows you would not be having this problem. MS has really tightened the screws on OEMs, just like they did when OEMs were selling machines with no OS and linux preinstalled. MS threatened to raise the rate they charge OEMs for windows OS unless they stopped or drastically cut back on production of such machines.

I see. That sure makes a lot of sense. I must admit that this is pretty smart on their part. Is it still your suggestion to get in contact with them or should I download the W8 version of the drivers?

Can't hurt. Try the ones listed NOT under any OS.
I mean.. they are gonna work, or they wont.

You're right. I'll do that. Thanks a lot guys! I hope you guys have a wonderful night!

let us know if the windows 8 drivers worked or not!

This whole secure boot thing is just another MS ploy at controlling what we want to do. I haven't heard of any documented cases yet, but I have read that there is already a rootkit that can circumvent the 'security' of the new secure boot process.

I tried to install the W8 form TOSHIBA but it was not possible. I, for starters, could not find them all and the ones that I did find, did not work. I guess I'm back to W8 installation.

Sorry to hear that Designing5! I know you are frustrated. Hopefully it will work out fore you soon.

Install Network Adapter Windows 7

Hello everyone... especially you, 'Presence'! I did what I didn't want to do but it's done now. I followed all the advice from you guys and I went ahead and installed W8 back. It's been installing updates and stuff. It's all back to 'normal'. There is one thing that is bothering me though: When I've tried to add a picture to my administrator user account. By the way, I AM the only user and the option to browse and camera are grayed out. Any idea on why this may be???

Install Virtual Network Adapter Windows 7



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This document details how to uninstall and reinstall a network adapter for the purpose of troubleshooting networking problems on Windows 7, 8, and 10.

If a user is having issues connecting to or staying connected to a wired or wireless network, an easy first step at troubleshooting is to uninstall and reinstall the network adapter. This is also a good step to try if a user is able to connect to a network but are unable load web pages in their browser. This fix will bring the network adapter back to default settings and will resolve issues a large percentage of the time. If the the network adapter doesn't show up in the list it could indicate a hardware issue with the adapter.

  1. Type 'Device Manager' into the search field to open the device manager console.

    ..

  2. Expand the 'Network Adapters' field. This will list all network adapters that the machine has installed. Right click on the adapter you want to uninstall and select 'Uninstall'. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the device. If troubleshooting a wireless issue make sure to select the correct device - the word 'Wireless' will likely be in the title.

    ....

  3. Click 'Ok' when prompted to uninstall the device. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the driver.

    ...

  4. Once the adapter has been uninstalled click on the 'Scan for hardware changes' button to search for and reinstall the correct adapter. The icon can be hard to see - you can hover your mouse over the button to confirm you are choosing the correct one.

    ..

  5. If the device is successfully reinstalled it will show back up under the 'Network Adapters' drop-down. Reboot the computer and see if the connectivity issue has been resolved.

  6. If the issue is not resolved click here for instructions on restarting the windows networking service.


Keywords:network troubleshooting windows microsoft adapter device manager uninstall install reinstall Suggest keywordsDoc ID:58029
Owner:Mike J.Group:DoIT Tech Store
Created:2015-11-06 12:43 CDTUpdated:2018-09-24 13:13 CDT
Sites:DoIT Help Desk, DoIT Tech Store
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