I think I would be able to replace the battery, but I am dubious that this is the answer. Surely I would be having other problems if it were the battery, for example inability to retain date and time? I have an old Dell laptop that needs a new battery (almost impossible to get to without practically dismantling it) and we have to update the date and time each time we turn it on, yet it has no problem accessing our router.
Modern PCs automatically sync date/time on line at one of the sites which provide accurate time updates, eg, time.windows.com, unless you've disabled automatic syncing. So you may not see any loss of date/time, even with a weak battery...
I can't promise replacing the battery will solve this problem, but there must be some reason for having to reinstall the WiFi card every time you boot, which sounds -to me- like BIOS isn't holding the settings for the card correctly and/or the card isn't identifying itself correctly to the system when it boots.
One of the reasons the OEM DVD works whereas usb installers do not is that the DVD is WRITE Protected so it cannot become infected and reinstall the virus after each boot. You can use the dvd and command prompt and diskpart to CLEAN the drive of all data then reinstall without the malware. If you do not want to lose data then buy a new drive and install windows clean on the new drive and recover the data from the old drive with a dock.
Every Usb Adapter you listed works fine without installing drivers because the real drivers are built into windows.
The other reason to buy OEM DVD is that after 2025 and probably sooner you will not be able to buy said DVD EVER AGAIN.
Microsoft cancelled the Refirbisher program for older PC's and wants people to be forced to buy new PC's with windows 11.
Once the stock is gone its gone. USB Flash drives detrap over a year or less depending on temperature. Once that happens you cannot get 10 anymore and your model may not be able to run windows 11 so your machine is effectively dead at that point.
Even if your battery is dead you can make a CMD script to re sync time if you are able to get online.
Paste the text below into notepad call it sync.cmd
REM never use the Microsoft time servers (default) REM use a script to change the time source to nist.gov (here in the USA). REM a reliable time source outside your network to get it's time from. REM sync.cmd REM REM run this on the your PC (to sync the one that hosts the time server for the entire domain) REM w32tm /resync /rediscover w32tm /config /syncfromflags:MANUAL "/manualpeerlist:0.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 1.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 2.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 3.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1" /reliable:yes w32tm /config /update net stop w32time && net start w32time w32tm /resync /force w32tm /query /source
Great idea. I did a full scan using the Microsoft program, which took about 6 hours and it found 3 pieces of dodgy software , which it cleared. Just to make sure I did the full scan again and this time it found nothing, so it must have worked. However it did nothing to help with my original problem and this morning I again had to re-install the adapter software in order for it to find any network connections!
Shoot. I can't guarantee anything, but the only other thing I can think of is go into the F12 Boot Menu, which also has diagnostics option. This tests the hardware on your PC. I don't know that full scan will take 6 hours, but likely a few hours.
As for Windows Defender diagnostics, I'm glad it at least eliminated a few things. I'm hoping it didn't miss any malware that speedstep has mentioned.
janjalovy
1 Rookie
•
10 Posts
0
August 20th, 2021 03:00
I think I would be able to replace the battery, but I am dubious that this is the answer. Surely I would be having other problems if it were the battery, for example inability to retain date and time? I have an old Dell laptop that needs a new battery (almost impossible to get to without practically dismantling it) and we have to update the date and time each time we turn it on, yet it has no problem accessing our router.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
August 20th, 2021 12:00
Modern PCs automatically sync date/time on line at one of the sites which provide accurate time updates, eg, time.windows.com, unless you've disabled automatic syncing. So you may not see any loss of date/time, even with a weak battery...
I can't promise replacing the battery will solve this problem, but there must be some reason for having to reinstall the WiFi card every time you boot, which sounds -to me- like BIOS isn't holding the settings for the card correctly and/or the card isn't identifying itself correctly to the system when it boots.
If nothing else, you'd rule the battery out...
speedstep
9 Legend
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47K Posts
0
August 20th, 2021 20:00
@janjalovy
You are infected with winsock rootkit malware.
One of the reasons the OEM DVD works whereas usb installers do not is that the DVD is WRITE Protected so it cannot become infected and reinstall the virus after each boot. You can use the dvd and command prompt and diskpart to CLEAN the drive of all data then reinstall without the malware. If you do not want to lose data then buy a new drive and install windows clean on the new drive and recover the data from the old drive with a dock.
Every Usb Adapter you listed works fine without installing drivers because the real drivers are built into windows.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/safety-scanner-download
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
August 20th, 2021 20:00
@janjalovy
The other reason to buy OEM DVD is that after 2025 and probably sooner you will not be able to buy said DVD EVER AGAIN.
Microsoft cancelled the Refirbisher program for older PC's and wants people to be forced to buy new PC's with windows 11.
Once the stock is gone its gone. USB Flash drives detrap over a year or less depending on temperature. Once that happens you cannot get 10 anymore and your model may not be able to run windows 11 so your machine is effectively dead at that point.
https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-64-bit-reinstall-recovery-disc-only-no-license-key-included/p/N82E16832350238
Even if your battery is dead you can make a CMD script to re sync time if you are able to get online.
Paste the text below into notepad call it sync.cmd
REM never use the Microsoft time servers (default)
REM use a script to change the time source to nist.gov (here in the USA).
REM a reliable time source outside your network to get it's time from.
REM sync.cmd
REM
REM run this on the your PC (to sync the one that hosts the time server for the entire domain)
REM
w32tm /resync /rediscover
w32tm /config /syncfromflags:MANUAL "/manualpeerlist:0.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 1.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 2.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1 3.north-america.pool.ntp.org,0x1" /reliable:yes
w32tm /config /update
net stop w32time && net start w32time
w32tm /resync /force
w32tm /query /source
bradthetechnut
7 Technologist
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9.4K Posts
0
August 22nd, 2021 11:00
By any chance have you tried scanning your PC with Windows Defender* using full scan? *Or other antivirus software.
janjalovy
1 Rookie
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10 Posts
0
August 23rd, 2021 04:00
Great idea. I did a full scan using the Microsoft program, which took about 6 hours and it found 3 pieces of dodgy software , which it cleared. Just to make sure I did the full scan again and this time it found nothing, so it must have worked. However it did nothing to help with my original problem and this morning I again had to re-install the adapter software in order for it to find any network connections!
bradthetechnut
7 Technologist
•
9.4K Posts
0
August 23rd, 2021 10:00
Shoot. I can't guarantee anything, but the only other thing I can think of is go into the F12 Boot Menu, which also has diagnostics option. This tests the hardware on your PC. I don't know that full scan will take 6 hours, but likely a few hours.
As for Windows Defender diagnostics, I'm glad it at least eliminated a few things. I'm hoping it didn't miss any malware that speedstep has mentioned.