Driver issues – any help?

So...

I just finished reinstalling Windows on a friend's laptop. Everything seems totally fine, except for one thing: the internet isn't working.

The problem is I didn't check which wireless drivers she was using before I wiped the drive. Now I'm sitting here trying to install a bunch of different wireless drivers, but absolutely none of them are working.

My question is simple: does anyone know which specific driver I need to get everything running smoothly again?

The machine is an HP ProBook 4730s.

Thanks, everyone! 🙂

So, how many different wireless drivers are actually listed on the HP website? The real headache is that you don't always get lucky on the first try—sometimes you'll find a few different laptop models that look identical, but they actually use totally different chipsets. It usually ends up being a bit of a process where you have to test them one by one until you finally land on the right one...

Wouldn't it be simpler to just uninstall HP Support Assistant and handle everything manually...
🤔

I'll try downloading the Support Assistant and we'll see how it goes.

I tried downloading a whole bunch of drivers straight from the HP site, but honestly? None of them are working. I even went through the trouble of installing the HP Support Assistant, but that hasn't helped at all either.

🤷

Did you actually install any drivers, or did you just do a clean install of Windows?

Anyway, for the wireless, go into Device Manager, find the network controller, and check the Hardware ID under properties. That'll tell you exactly which driver you need to hunt down.

1. chipset driver
2. network controller
3. LAN driver
4. WLAN driver
These are the specific components you need to install.
Since things have likely become a bit tangled—much like trying to untangle a messy knot of holiday lights—where even Windows can't tell which device is which, I’d suggest performing a clean reinstall of the OS. It might be a smoother path forward. Before you start the installation process, try keeping the LAN cable plugged directly from your laptop into the router; having that hardwired connection active could make the whole setup significantly easier.

P.S. If you had mentioned which version of the OS you were running, we might have been able to offer some more tailored advice.

Nathan Ramos said:1. chipset driver
2. network controller
3. LAN driver
4. WLAN driver
These are the specific components you need to install.
Since things have likely become a bit tangled—much like trying to untangle a messy knot of holiday lights—where even Windows can't tell which device is which, I’d suggest performing a clean reinstall of the OS. It might be a smoother path forward. Before you start the installation process, try keeping the LAN cable plugged directly from your laptop into the router; having that hardwired connection active could make the whole setup significantly easier.

P.S. If you had mentioned which version of the OS you were running, we might have been able to offer some more tailored advice.

For these laptops, I usually install them in this order:
- Chipset
- all that other Intel junk for HP
- VGA
- Audio
- everything else: network, card reader, touchpad

I don't see how a LAN cable is going to help him if the OS doesn't even have a network driver?

Donna Garcia said:For these laptops, I usually install them in this order:
- Chipset
- all that other Intel junk for HP
- VGA
- Audio
- everything else: network, card reader, touchpad

I don't see how a LAN cable is going to help him if the OS doesn't even have a network driver?

But what if he actually does...

The order in which he installs the rest of those components really won't make much of a difference in his situation.

Nathan Ramos said:But what if he actually does...

The order in which he installs the rest of those components really won't make much of a difference in his situation.

Doesn't matter. I don't see how that would be useful during the installation process. It could potentially connect to the internet after everything is installed.

Isn't that really the whole point, though? To get him back online?
Once he's connected to the web, I imagine that wireless driver will just slide right into place effortlessly. 😉

Nathan Ramos said:Isn't that really the whole point, though? To get him back online?
Once he's connected to the web, I imagine that wireless driver will just slide right into place effortlessly. 😉

Look, if the OS has the driver for his network card, it'll install it. If it doesn't, it won't. It doesn't matter if you plug in the Ethernet cable before the installation or three days later; if the driver isn't integrated, it simply isn't going to happen.

Nathan Ramos said:😉

The main thing is that we're on the same page. 😁

Not quite, though I’m more than happy to offer my help here free of charge; however, when it comes to formal education, that's where I start charging a fee 🙂

Nathan Ramos said:Not quite, though I’m more than happy to offer my help here free of charge; however, when it comes to formal education, that's where I start charging a fee 🙂

I only charge for my labor; I don't do training. I'm not a theorist. 😁

Sorry I didn't get into the specifics earlier...

I've got Windows 7, 32-bit installed.

I'm going to try to redo everything from scratch over the next few days.

The issue is with the wireless internet.

First off, the order you install your drivers in doesn't really matter at all. My usual approach is to just run Everest or AIDA first to see exactly which wireless chipset or adapter is actually inside the machine. You should head straight to that specific manufacturer's website—not the HP site—to grab the right driver. Once you get the wireless working, then you can hop over to the HP pages to pick up everything else. Laptops can be a bit tricky because one model often comes in several different versions; for example, if you're looking at an HP ProBook 4730s, there might be a T10 version, a T20 version, and so on. If you can pinpoint your exact model, most of these headaches just disappear. Personally, when I'm setting things up, I just install every driver I've downloaded and then perform one big system restart, and everything usually works perfectly fine.

So here I am...

I reinstalled my OS last night—Windows 7, 32-bit. The LAN cable was plugged in during the whole installation process, but once everything finished up, the network setup menu just never popped up. Now I'm stuck wondering if I need to install the drivers first before I can even touch the internet settings, or what? Like Donna Garcia said, I definitely need to track down those drivers.

The thing is, I tried hunting for the chipset drivers on the Realtek website last night and the download wouldn't even start.

I'm totally lost and honestly have no clue what to do next. Usually, when I'm setting this stuff up for someone else or even for myself, it’s a breeze. But this HP machine is seriously driving me up the wall.

Try downloading Speccy to identify your motherboard, network card, and other necessary hardware details.
Once you have those specs, you can locate the correct drivers...

restlessbear34 said:So here I am...

I reinstalled my OS last night—Windows 7, 32-bit. The LAN cable was plugged in during the whole installation process, but once everything finished up, the network setup menu just never popped up. Now I'm stuck wondering if I need to install the drivers first before I can even touch the internet settings, or what? Like Donna Garcia said, I definitely need to track down those drivers.

The thing is, I tried hunting for the chipset drivers on the Realtek website last night and the download wouldn't even start.

I'm totally lost and honestly have no clue what to do next. Usually, when I'm setting this stuff up for someone else or even for myself, it’s a breeze. But this HP machine is seriously driving me up the wall.

Like I said, the driver isn't just going to magically appear simply because the LAN cable is plugged in...

restlessbear34 said:So here I am...

I reinstalled my OS last night—Windows 7, 32-bit. The LAN cable was plugged in during the whole installation process, but once everything finished up, the network setup menu just never popped up. Now I'm stuck wondering if I need to install the drivers first before I can even touch the internet settings, or what? Like Donna Garcia said, I definitely need to track down those drivers.

The thing is, I tried hunting for the chipset drivers on the Realtek website last night and the download wouldn't even start.

I'm totally lost and honestly have no clue what to do next. Usually, when I'm setting this stuff up for someone else or even for myself, it’s a breeze. But this HP machine is seriously driving me up the wall.

Since you're using an HP 4730s, you've got an Intel chipset.
For the network card, right-click My Computer > Properties > Device Manager, find the Ethernet controller > right-click Properties > Details > Hardware ID.

It should show something like PCI\VEN_xxx&DEV_xxx
Copy that into Google or paste it here and I'll tell you which driver to grab.