Windows 10 No Internet connection using Windows 10

[bmullenix]

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I have been using the Windows 10 preview for about 2 months now and everything is running fine except for the network. First I installed the preview on my laptop as a dual boot, with Windows 7 Home on the C: drive and Windows 10 Preview on the D: drive. If I am using Windows 7 my Wi-Fi works just fine but if I am using Windows 10 Preview, the Wi-Fi light will not come on and there is no internet connection. I can plug the laptop directly into the router and I have an internet connection. I can use a Wi-Fi dongle on the laptop and the internet connection in fine. I tried to find new drivers for the laptop network card but as far as I could tell, there were none available.
Second, I installed the Windows 10 Preview on my desktop as a dual boot. I have an onboard Ethernet card but I also have a Killer Xeno Pro High Speed Network Card. If I plug the network cable into the onboard card I have internet access but if I plug it into the Killer Xeno Network card I have no internet access. I can also use the Wi-Fi dongle with the desktop. I paid extra when I had this computer built to have the Killer Xeno network card and I want to use it. As with the laptop, when I boot into Windows 7, the Killer Xeno card works fine.
I am the resident geek for my friends and family and I have about 8 to 10 people that I have told to hold off on upgrading to Windows 10 because of these network problems. If they upgrade and have the same problems I have I can't just tell them that they're going to have to go buy a Wi-Fi dongle in order to use their computer.
I would really appreciate any help that you could give me with this. I have been using Windows operating systems since 3.1 and I have never had a problem with getting the network cards to work.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Hi,
Win10 upgrade on my Sony Vaio laptop from Windows7 had no such problem. I suspect you are troubleshooting a complex environment, and you should recall the old Computers 101 saw that says: "KISS=Keep It Stupid Simple". Troubleshooting this kind of problem is pretty near impossible on a dual-boot environment; They are notoriously unstable. When I was with dispatch while working at IBM, many of our field network engineers had up to 5 OSes including Windows multiple versions running on their laptops. They were always failing, and every time one of the OSes were update, upgraded, or messed with, sure enough, they'd have to bring their laptop into the office (most were mobile workers who telecommuted from their homes); where my tech team and I would have to resolve their problems. Our Management got tired of us spending weeks trying to recreate such multi-boot entanglements, and forbade us from doing it anymore. So, every engineer who brough in their laptop scrambled in a multi-boot debacle, was given a single OS laptop that was fully functioning. Then, if they proceeded to scramble it again with multi-boot they had their company laptop provided privelege revoked and were forced to purchase a laptop out of their own pockets in order to do their jobs!
This little anecdote may tell you why you are barking up the wrong tree with your troubleshooting methods. After 25 years in IT and 44 years in the Computer Industry you learn some things.
I recommend you wipe the drives of both your laptop and desktop (by the way, it would help to know their Makes/Models), after backing up any personal information you wish to retain from them to external media of course), and reinstall Win7 from scratch. Remove the Xeno NIC from the equation. Attempt the Win7-->Win10 upgrades on both computers using the built-in Ethernet ports or wifi (for both or just the laptop; as many newer desktops have embedded wifi now). If the built-in network adapters still fail, I suggest you have another hardware failure in one or both of those computers (RAM, Motherboard, PSU, etc.), and they will need to be fully tested; starting with the Hard Drives of both computers.

Testing your network adapters will be a lot easier if you are using single-boot configurations on each computer. So, you know until July 2016 or so, Microsoft has said that Windows10 hardware drivers including network adapter drivers are compatible with Windows8/8.1 until the Manufacturers begin changing firmware on their Motherboards to take full advantage of new advanced features in Win10. So, all you need to do is verify with Xeno that their NIC is compliant with Win8/8.1 WHQL. If it is, it should work on the upgraded desktop if you follow my suggestions. If not, it could be defective and should be returned or exchanged to them. If their NIC won't work on 8/8.1 then it won't work on Win10. Since you have skipped 3 OS versions on this upgrade, that wouldn't be too surprising. If you have access to a friend with Win8/8.1, of course you can try your NIC in that friend's computer. If it fails, that would support my hypothesis that the card is defective since it won't work on Win8/8.1, as it should if it was certified to that level. If not, or the card was only certified with Win7 drivers; you can try to exchange it with them for a newer card, or do a PXE firmware download if they offer it. Many high-performance NICs such as server NICs offer remote flash upgrade capabilities. Otherwise, have them mail one to you on their dime!!

Get back to us with your hardware specs, and let us know how it goes!
Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

P.S. I've been doing Windows upgrades since Windows1.0 came out in 1985!

 

[bmullenix]

Thank you for your input but I've been running dual boot machines for years and have never encountered the problems you describe. As I stated above, there isn't anything wrong with the network cards since they work on the desktop and the laptop when I boot to Windows 7. They wouldn't work at all if there was something wrong with the cards. They have posted a Windows 10 driver update for the Xeno Pro network card so I will try that later. Why would I wipe out Windows 7 & Windows 10 when they both work just fine except for the Xeno network card? As I stated above, Win 7 & Win 10 both work just fine with the onboard network card. I don't think you read my original post closely or you would know that what you are suggesting is really not necessary. I do appreciate you taking the time to reply to my post and I'm sure you are quite knowledgeable when it comes to networks and computers but this ain't my first rodeo either.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Sure, no problem. To answer your question, over the years, there have been many problems with Windows drivers sharing the Registry on a single hard drive, even though you haven't run into it yourself. When you support hundreds and even thousands of computers worldwide you see a lot more squirrelly problems than you might supporting a dozen or so PCs for your friends and family. Windows often will search for a missing or non-functioning driver on the entire disc drive, when you get the driver troubleshooting wizard, and unless you are careful to explicitly tell it to only search the "Partition" of the current Windows install, it WILL search all Windows Registries on that disc drive. The Windows troubleshooter will often grab a driver from another Registry on a different partition by mistake, and voila you get network or other driver contention issues. Perhaps you never ran into this.

Part of the reason I suggest you wipe out your multi-boot configurations, is that often that's the only way you can be sure your Windows (7 or 10) is only attempting to use and install network drivers in one copy of the Registry at a time. This cannot be guaranteed in a multi-boot configuration as I alluded to. However, that's besides the point. They are your computers, you do what you want. You asked for help, and if I was billing you directly for $45 hour or $290 hour, I would tell you the same thing. The advice here is free; what you do with it is up to you. I've solved hundreds of problems just like yours, and I gave you the troubleshooting modality I would most likely use. And I've been doing it successfully enough at it to make a living doing it for 25 years.

Best of luck to you, and thanks for your reply. If you do get it resolved, and it's a simple driver problem, please post back to share with our other forum members.

You never did mention whether or not the Xeno Pro was WHQL certified with a Win8/8.1 driver?

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>

 

[bmullenix]

Sure, no problem. To answer your question, over the years, there have been many problems with Windows drivers sharing the Registry on a single hard drive, even though you haven't run into it yourself. When you support hundreds and even thousands of computers worldwide you see a lot more squirrelly problems than you might supporting a dozen or so PCs for your friends and family. Windows often will search for a missing or non-functioning driver on the entire disc drive, when you get the driver troubleshooting wizard, and unless you are careful to explicitly tell it to only search the "Partition" of the current Windows install, it WILL search all Windows Registries on that disc drive. The Windows troubleshooter will often grab a driver from another Registry on a different partition by mistake, and voila you get network or other driver contention issues. Perhaps you never ran into this.

Part of the reason I suggest you wipe out your multi-boot configurations, is that often that's the only way you can be sure your Windows (7 or 10) is only attempting to use and install network drivers in one copy of the Registry at a time. This cannot be guaranteed in a multi-boot configuration as I alluded to. However, that's besides the point. They are your computers, you do what you want. You asked for help, and if I was billing you directly for $45 hour or $290 hour, I would tell you the same thing. The advice here is free; what you do with it is up to you. I've solved hundreds of problems just like yours, and I gave you the troubleshooting modality I would most likely use. And I've been doing it successfully enough at it to make a living doing it for 25 years.

Best of luck to you, and thanks for your reply. If you do get it resolved, and it's a simple driver problem, please post back to share with our other forum members.

You never did mention whether or not the Xeno Pro was WHQL certified with a Win8/8.1 driver?

Best,
<<<BBJ>>>

I didn't mean to imply that I didn't appreciate your advice because I think you did an excellent job of trying to help me with what little info I provided. On my desktop I have Windows 7 installed on one 1TB hard drive and Windows 10 is installed on a 2nd
1TB hard drive so I'm thinking that with that set up there should be 2 seperate registrys. I could be wrong about that. The laptop is partioned with Windows 7 on one partition and Windows 10 on another partition so there could be a problem there. I've never done a dual boot on a laptop so maybe you're right on about the confusion with the registry. I'm not going to worry about that one much since I plan to buy a new laptop sometime later this year. The driver for the Xeno Pro that was posted on another forum was supposed to be Windows 10 certified by Microsoft so we will see what happens when I get around to installing it. As far as I know the current drivers for the Xeno Pro aren't certified with a Win8/8.1 driver but I really never thought about it since I bought and loaded Windows 7 after I had the desktop built. I do appreciate you trying to help me.

Thanks,
Barb

 

[MSDNUserAustralia]

I upgraded to Windows 10 - for half an hour of use. I then had to uninstall - great sadness because I really liked what I saw. Neither ethernet or wifi would even start. I have Broadcomm NetXtreme Gigabyte and Intel Wifi Link 5300 AGN adapters - neither supposedly suitable for Windows 10. Since I returned to Windows 7 because I could not stay offline, and trying to research the issue on my phone was just too hard, I have read some comments that after I upgrade I delete the Intel device and it will magically work when it reinstalls. However Intel says it won't work so I am loath to spend many more hours reinstalling and find for my particular PC, it still won't work. I have an Acer Travelmate 7730g. Acer is also no help saying the PC will not run Windows 10 but everything I tested (excluding network) seemed to work well.

Does anyone know whether the wifi will work? If I get a USB wifi are they any good. I really don't want to buy a new PC. I have brought so many over the years for the family and me.

 

[bmullenix]

I had the same problem but I was able to connect a USB wireless dongle and it worked just fine. I would try buying a dongle and seeing if that will work before you give up on upgrading. They really aren't that expensive and that will get you working while you try to find a solution. They did come out with a Windows 10 driver for my network card on my desktop so maybe they will come up with one for your devices.

 

[ussnorway]

Broadcomm NetXtreme Gigabyte

I have once gotten this to work on a WX at work... not what I'd call user friendly thou.

IMO usb wifi is crap and only good for quick backup or testing systems but I remember when dial up was good!

 

[bmullenix]

I agree it's not the best solution but it will at least get him up and running where he can try to find another solution. I was sure that HP would not provide a Windows 10 driver for my printer but they came through and it's working great. It's early in the release and not all the vendors were ready and in the case of HP, they said they weren't releasing anything until the actual release date.

 

[ussnorway]

I agree it's not the best solution but it will at least get him up and running

True... as a stop gap yes its fine.

 

[MSDNUserAustralia]

I agree it's not the best solution but it will at least get him up and running where he can try to find another solution. I was sure that HP would not provide a Windows 10 driver for my printer but they came through and it's working great. It's early in the release and not all the vendors were ready and in the case of HP, they said they weren't releasing anything until the actual release date.

Thanks so much for you quick response. I guess I can try and find a USB WiFi (in Australia) that is "guaranteed" to be Windows 10 compatible. I have a 3 year old on - was very cost effective even then - which I used to bridge a gap but I do not want to risk it not working after the upgrade. All of this upgrade work has to be done late at night after my other obligations (work and voluntary) and I just cannot afford to be offline.

 

[Win10user]

Hello,

I just upgraded a desktop to Win10 from Win7 x64. I also have the Killer Xeno Pro NIC. That NIC came with my Alienware computer in 2009, and is designed for XP and Vista. See this, noting supported OS:

(I can't post links yet, so Google revisioned-killer-xeno-pro-detail.html on the visiontek website.)

That NIC didn't work cleanly even with Win7, and had frequent blue screen crashes when awakening from hibernation. With Win10, the behavior is the same. No Win10 drivers are available on the visiontek website.

I installed the Win8 drivers, and I'm still getting blue screen crashes (most of the time, but not all) upon waking from hibernation with Win10. The crashes cite a page fault in a non-paged area related to Xeno7x64.sys, which I assume is a driver file for that NIC. Other than those crashes, the NIC works fine with Win10. There has been a long, 5+ year legacy of faulty drivers with that NIC. I have about had it, and am thinking of shitcanning that NIC and going with my built-in Ethernet ports. >-{

If anyone knows of a way to stop those crashes, please post some help.

Thank you.

 

[Win10user]

The driver for the Xeno Pro that was posted on another forum was supposed to be Windows 10 certified by Microsoft so we will see what happens when I get around to installing it.

Thanks,
Barb

Please post a link to the Win10 certified driver for the Xeno Pro that you mentioned. As I wrote above, no Win10 driver for the NIC is available on the Visiontek website (only Win8 and earlier).