Windows – Empty network adapters list in network connections (Windows 7)

windows 7

Question: How can I get the wireless adapters list to show up on Network connections window?

Recently I have noticed the following icon on windows 7 system tray. Ironically this has no effect on connecting to the network.

Ethernet Icon

Typically the device will display the following Icon on system tray.

Wireless Icon

In the Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections there is no adapters display. Below is the current status.

Network Connections

Intel PROSet/Wireless tool test results

Intel PROSet/Wireless Tool Test Results

Status on current investigation:

I have tried in uninstall and reinstall the drivers. In the process I completely loss network connectivity. A restore system was done from a previous update to get back network connectivity (Not a pleasant experience)

I reinstall the drivers from manufacture with out much success.

When I open the device manager and click on the properties of the network adapters I see the following error.

Network Adapter Error

Background: I have been encountering windows update issues as described in Windows 7 Update Failed on Multiple attempts post. Analyzing the cbs.log file has led me similar articles as follows Fix Windows Update issues which reference a windows networking issue.

References:

Best Answer

The issue might be related to a corrupted registry. Follow are few suggestions

  • Click Start and type regedit
  • Save/Backup the current registry settings Backup and restore the registry in Windows 7
  • Alternatively you could go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network, right click on Network and export the Network folder only
  • Select the Network folder. Select config variable from the right hand pane which has a binary value. Delete this variable. Regedit - Config
  • Close the registry editor and open the network connection folder. Sometimes a re-boot might be necessary. Network connections folder

Try this out. Hope this of help.

Related Question