Bluetooth not working on Windows 8.1

Hi Amogh,

I tried your suggestion, but it did not work.  The Windows 8 drivers won't install onto Windows 8.1.

Any other suggestions?  I really want to do a clean install of Windows 8.1.

Sometimes, removing the device from BT devices, uninstalling then re-installing the correct (for your computer and Win 8.1 OS) BT driver (downloaded from Dell driver page), re-pairing the BT device and finally making a new connection, may work. Worth a try?

Hi lch106,

I would suggest you to check if the following settings for the Bluetooth speakers are enabled by default. You may follow the steps below:

• Press + together and select ‘Control Panel’ from the list.
• Click ‘Hardware and Sound’ and select ‘Devices and Printers’.
• In ‘Devices and Printers’, locate Bluetooth speaker device and Right Click on the device.
• Click ‘Properties’ and navigate to ‘Services’.
• Select ‘Audio Sink’, ‘Hands free Telephony’ and ‘Remote Control’.
• Click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.

Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist further.

Hi saratogacoach,

I tried your suggestion, but it did not work.  The computer freezing behavior is still the same.

Hi Amogh,

I reinstalled my entire computer by first installing a clean Windows 8, then without installing any drivers (except LAN and video, because it is needed for the Windows Store), I updated to Windows 8.1.  After that, I installed all the Win8.1 drivers.

However, the computer still freezes during BT speaker playback.

I also checked the Services of the BT speaker, and all three items are checked.

I think that there is a problem with Win8.1 and the BT driver which is causing the machine to freeze.  I've eliminated almost every possibility.  Again, this issue never occurred before with Win8 and the same BT speaker.

Hi Kuldeep,

I have used the Bluetooth speakers with another laptop and my phone, and it works fine without causing the host machine to freeze.

Unfortunately, I don't have any other Bluetooth device to connect to the XPS 8700 to test with.

I am quite sure that it is a problem with Bluetooth on the XPS 8700 under Windows 8.1.  When the machine freezes (though the music is still playing), if I turn off the BT speaker, then within a few seconds the computer unfreezes and works fine.

I think there is a problem with the BT driver on Windows 8.1 itself.  Again, there was no problem before with the same machine, same BT speaker and Windows 8.

Please help solve this problem, thanks.

Hi lch106,

I will suggest you to check the Bluetooth settings.

• Launch the Search Charm and type Bluetooth in the search box.
• Click ‘Change Bluetooth Settings’.

Also, you may try to connect your phone via Bluetooth to see if that causes the same issue.

You may also try to remove the Bluetooth speakers and pair them again to see if that works.

Keep me posted with the information. I will be glad to assist you further.

Hi Kuldeep,

I checked the Bluetooth settings, and they are all normal.

I had already trying removing and repairing the Bluetooth speakers, but the same problem occurs.

As for my phone, I connected it via Bluetooth and nothing seems to be wrong.  Of course, I cannot use my phone as a Bluetooth speaker, so I cannot emulate the exact same kind of usage.

I hope that an improved Bluetooth driver or some kind of patch solves this problem.  Are you able to replicate the same problem on the same machine at Dell?  I'm sure there must be others who are having the same issue.

Hi lch106,

The issue seems to be related to the drivers.

There are a few issues seen after updating to windows 8.1 and the engineering teams are aware.

There may be updates released in future to resolve these issues.

I will request you to check for any driver updates to fix the issue.

Please feel free to reply for any further assistance.

Same here. I have a non-Dell desktop and after upgrading to 8.1 get a message that blue tooth drivers are corrupted. It tries reinstalling but fails.

Since it happened on your computer and on my Gateway I assume it's a Windows problem. My PC is 10 days old..

I never checked bluetooth before the upgrade to 8.1

I don't have a current use for bluetooth, but would like to see a solution.

I have two dell  xps 18's. One is the I3 and the other is the I7. The I3 works fine updated to win 8.1, but the i7 xps 18 has the "killer" radio and I have all the same problems of this thread. I have 6 or 7 Bluetooth devices and they all have the same problem on the I7 xps 18.... the device manager under "sound, video and game controllers" ,then " Bluetooth audio" has a yellow flag. I have upgraded the firmware, re-installed win 8 (several times, now cleanly and ready to try something different ) then upgraded to win 8.1. Each time I upgraded the Bluetooth drivers for win 8.1  Each time I still have the same problem. I have spent two solid nights with tech support and they have been very supportive, but they still have no solution yet.

So Now . . . .

Since my "clean" install of win 8 I am ready to upgrade to win 8.1 (for the third try) and then install the latest Bluetooth 8.1 drivers.

How should I install 8.1 this time, and which 8.1 drivers should I use to update the Bluetooth?

Hello,

I have the same issues AND when I did the update, it knocked out all of my drivers.  I have two printers and a die-cutting machine, and it did not allow me to use ANY of them.  After two hours on the phone with Microsoft last night, they were unable to fix the issue and said that it was issue with Dell and the 8.1 update...

I am super mad because I am an event planner, and it screwed up my Food Network event last night!!!!

How can I resolve this????

Regards...

#SuperMadAndFrustrated

Hi Kuldeep,

Is there any update on improved Bluetooth drivers for Windows 8.1?

I'm still having the machine freezing problems with my BT speaker and XPS 8700 on Win8.1.

Thanks.

I have a dell xps 18 but it has the Killer Wireless N 1202 network adapter (which handles the Bluetooth radio) which I assume your machine has.

Dell helped me fix the Bluetooth driver for win 8.1. For me I did not realize drivers were available for win 8.1 (you have to select them and that was not clear, they were in a pull down menu). I had installed updates designed for win 8 (which caused my problems) and I had to do a complete clean install of my machine, then with letting the machine get all the updates to win 8, and not updating any hardware, install win 8.1. Then we applied the latest Qualcomm Bluetooth driver for win 8.1 and as the attached picture shows, I am good to go!

And is it still fixed? No more freezing or anything?

I Just spent an hour and a half on dell technical chat support and nothing happened, other than I missed my lunch.

I will do the fix myself, but I just want to make sure before I do a clean install of windows that it is necessary.