I have a Dell 5070 SFF desktop running Windows 11 that I bought a couple of weeks ago. Wi‑Fi worked normally until August 25, when two automatic Windows updates were installed. Since then, Windows has reported that the Wi‑Fi password is incorrect whenever I try to connect, even though the other computers in the house connect to the router without any problems.
I have already tried restarting the router, resetting Windows networking, reinstalling the Wi‑Fi adapter and its drivers, running DNS and network-reset commands, and removing the saved network. None of that helped. The only fix so far has been uninstalling the two most recent Windows updates, after which Wi‑Fi works again.
Unfortunately, Windows reinstalls those updates whenever the computer is shut down or restarted, leaving me unable to connect again. Is there a safe way to identify which update or driver is causing this and prevent it from reinstalling temporarily? I would prefer not to disable Windows Update permanently, but I need a way to keep the computer online while troubleshooting.
4 Answers
Download the Wi‑Fi driver specifically for the Dell 5070 SFF from Dell’s support page rather than relying on the generic driver supplied through Windows Update. An update may be replacing the working Dell driver with an incompatible one. In Device Manager, you can also check the adapter’s driver date and version to see whether it changed when the problem began.
The update may have changed the wireless security settings instead of the password itself—for example, switching the adapter to prefer WPA3 when the router is using WPA2. Check the adapter’s advanced properties and the router’s security mode. If the adapter supports it, try using WPA2 temporarily and make sure the router is not set to WPA3-only.
If possible, connect the PC to the router with an Ethernet cable first. That will give you a reliable connection while you troubleshoot and download the correct software. Also check exactly which Wi‑Fi adapter is installed—Intel, Qualcomm, or an aftermarket card—because the proper driver depends on the model.
Windows can retain wireless profiles even when the network does not appear in the normal list. From an elevated Command Prompt, run `netsh wlan show profiles` and then remove the affected profile with `netsh wlan delete profile name="NetworkName"`. Reboot afterward and connect again. This is worth trying after installing the Dell driver, since a corrupted profile can produce a misleading password error.
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