I recently downloaded a virtual legacy WiFi adapter on my old Dell computer, and now I can't get it to boot past the loading screen. It's freezing during the startup process, and I can't even reset the computer because it completely locks up. The loading circle stops moving, and I'm not sure what to do. Is there a way to delete the adapter or something else I can try to get my computer to load again? I don't have any important data on it, so I'm okay with losing everything if it means I can start fresh. It was working fine before I installed the adapter.
3 Answers
One of the quickest solutions would be to reinstall Windows. You can find a guide on how to do that on sites like rTech Support. If possible, try to get a USB drive with at least 8GB to create a bootable installer. I know it's a hassle, but it’s a sure way to get everything working again. Also, for future reference, consider buying a physical adapter next time instead of downloading uncertain software.
Have you tried booting into safe mode? Once you're there, you can use a tool called RAPR to remove the driver for that virtual adapter. Sometimes just deleting it in Device Manager only leads Windows to reinstall it. Also, if you have another device like an Android phone, you can download the necessary tools and transfer them over using MTP while in safe mode.
Glad to hear you got it working again! Just goes to show that sometimes these issues can be resolved with a little help from the community.
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