Windows 7 Cannot detect or add bluetooth devices in windows 7 premium

rab0402

New Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Hey all, new user here, but really hoping someone will have some ideas that I haven't tried yet.

I have an Iogear bluetooth dongle that until a couple of weeks ago was working fine. I use it to connect to a bluetooth keyboard. I went on a trip and took the keyboard with me, where I paired it with my iPad. When I came back, the bluetooth could no longer find the keyboard, or any other bluetooth device for that matter.

I've gone through all of the usual troubleshooting steps, including making sure it is set to run automatically, making sure the device drivers are updated, removing and reinstalling the device drivers, making sure the bluetooth settings are correct as far as set to find devices etc. with no luck.

It does appear to be working as far as the device goes. There is a blue light on the dongle that blinks when I click to find a bluetooth device. When I put the bluetooth on the computer into discover mode, my phone is able to find the bluetooth radio, but it cannot connect with it. All of this, and the fact that it worked fine before, leads me to believe it may be a problem with my computer. I ran antivirus software, and although it found a couple of malware programs, nothing changed.

Any other ideas?
 
Did you take the keyboard and the dongle on the trip? You think the dongle is the problem and not the keyboard?

If it is USB, try a different port, and it should reload drivers.

If a previously recognized device is still on the computer, remove it and try paring again.

When I put the bluetooth on the computer into discover mode
Is this a mistype or do you have Bluetooth actually on your computer as well as the dongle.
 
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I did not take the dongle on the trip, so it was not damaged. I have tried multiple USB ports, as well as completely removing the device drivers and software.

And yes, that is a mistake. It should read that when I put the bluetooth device into discover mode my phone is able to discover it, but not connect.

Also, I forgot to mention that when I use the same device on my wife's computer, the drivers install automatically, and I'm up and running within 30 seconds. So that tells me it is a problem with windows 7 rather than my device or dongle.

I've done extensive research online, and found a few other people with the same problem, but outside of completely restoring my computer to factory settings, no solutions. I am headed that way, but I'd rather avoid it if I can.
 
One question you did not address. Do you show the device (keyboard) in the Devices and Printers dialog window? If so, remove it and try again.
 
After I initially discovered how to set a device to "Discoverable" (red and green blinking LEDs for the mouse), I have had no problems getting my onboard Bluetooth to find it.

If you open the Add Bluetooth devices dialog, and you set your device to discoverable, does it give any messages? Have you checked your device manager against your wife's to see in any devices are missing? I know there should be 2 Bluetooth radios, one a Microsoft enumumerator and one Specific, which in my situation was ASUS or Atheros. Since I have turned off my Bluetooth (did not like the mouse and keyboard behavior). I cannot be more precise.

I believe the Devices and Printers dialog will also show the device, but I would not try to add it that way.
 
Both the bluetooth enumerator and the specific driver for my dongle are present in device manager, just as they are for my wife. Funny thing is, when I plugged it into her computer, I didn't even need to install any software, it worked as a plug and play device within seconds.
Thanks for all the help, I'm thinking I'm at the point where, like other people who have had this problem, I'm just going to reformat my computer and start fresh. I just figured I'd see if there was something I was missing that could explain this behavior.
 
Both the bluetooth enumerator and the specific driver for my dongle are present in device manager, just as they are for my wife. Funny thing is, when I plugged it into her computer, I didn't even need to install any software, it worked as a plug and play device within seconds.

Thanks for all the help, I'm thinking I'm at the point where, like other people who have had this problem, I'm just going to reformat my computer and start fresh. I just figured I'd see if there was something I was missing that could explain this behavior.
 
There is a good chance reformatting will help correct the problem, but it should not be necessary.

What I would try first. Go into Device manager and uninstall the drivers for the device and use the remove all drivers option. Then Uninstall the device and do a cold boot with the dongle unplugged. I suggest this way because I do not know if the Uninstall all instances of a driver is available if you just remove the device. Then another cold boot.

In earlier versions of Windows, you needed to reboot around 3 times for the system to completely reset. I do not think Windows 7 needs that, but you might try leaving the dongle disconnected for a couple of restarts. Also check msconfig.exe to see if it shows anything starting up related to the Bluetooth.

Then start over from scratch. If the behavior is not like your wife's computer, then maybe something has gotten out of sync and is not able to correct itself.
 
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