I've been handling tech support for quite a while, but I'm completely stumped by this situation. A client called me about four laptops in his shop, and they're all having the same issue: they can't find any Wi-Fi networks. I've tried all the usual fixes, but nothing's working:
- Uninstalling the driver crashes Device Management.
- Running a network reset with netsh causes Command Prompt to hang.
- I attempted to uninstall the latest Windows Update, but the option was grayed out.
- Even when trying to uninstall the update via Command Prompt, it hangs for over 20 minutes.
- After a 'Reset this PC,' two laptops are now in a boot loop with an error message that says, "The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error."
I've even created a USB installer with Rufus and wiped all the partitions, but I'm still getting the same results. I'm now left with two non-functional laptops and I'm hesitant to mess with the others. Is there any possibility that the Windows Update caused hardware issues with all four laptops? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
It sounds like a bizarre situation! Since all four laptops are showing the same symptoms, it might be something more sinister at work, like a low-level worm affecting the BIOS. I'm no expert, but that seems like a possibility. Have you thought about trying a Linux distro on them? That could potentially help isolate the issue.
I hope that works for you! If all else fails, at least Linux might give you some breathing room to troubleshoot further.
It might help to share a bit more info about the laptops themselves. Different models can have different issues with updates.
Sure! One is an HP with Intel, while the other three are MSI with Intel too. I'm not entirely sure about the fourth one yet. The client mentioned all of them started acting up after a Windows Update was installed on the 10th.
Yeah, it's super weird. I haven't tried Linux yet, but I think that's my next step. I also grabbed a Windows ISO from 2025, so I might try an older build from 2022 instead.