I have a HP Pavilion dm1 laptop running Windows 7.
It has a wireless and a 100MBit wired network connection.
Occasionally (like, at the moment), the 100MBit adapter will simply vanish. The device is no longer visible in the device manager, nor in the list of network adapters. All that is visible there is the wireless connection and some virtual miniport thingy.
WLAN continues to work as usual.
What I've tried:
- Running the laptop both off the battery and off the electrical socket
- Turning wireless LAN on and off
- Checking the BIOS for any options
- Running the "Install new hardware" wizard
- Switching energy saving plans
- Editing the energy saving plan to turn off all options that might disable the adapter
- Restarting the machine repeatedly
Is there some setting I'm overlooking? Or is it bound to be a hardware defect?
If all else fails, I'll prepare a Knoppix or other live Linux CD and see whether it works there, but I'll wait whether someone knows what this could be first.
Best Answer
I can't be sure as I do not have an HP, but the same thing happens to me on my Lenovo, and it is due to the Network Profile Switching application (For Lenovo, it is called "Access Connections", I tried to find the name for yours, but it was not clear from my searches).
Many laptop makers provide their own software to keep track of different network profiles as the user goes from place to place. In some, he may wish to use on the wireless using DHCP, in others, maybe a static IP for the LAN adapter. Some offer the ability also turn on/off features, such as printers.
The point is so the user does not have to configure his network in detail with each location change, but it can be handled with a simple click or two when he moves. My application hides adapters, which are not in use, so maybe yours does also.
Two things you did not mention doing were updating your LAN adapter's driver, and actually plugging it in so see if it showed up then (check the profile if you do have the software I mentioned).
I hope it is what I think it is, but if not, you could have a bad adapter as you mentioned.