4 Ways to Fix “Windows Could Not Find a Driver for Your Network Adapter” Error

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he’s a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

Fix 1: Enable Network Adapter

Windows may fail to communicate with the network adapter if you’ve previously disabled it. Hence, the first thing you should do is enable the network adapter.

Step 1:Click the search icon on the taskbar, type incontrol panel, and pressEnter.

Step 2:Change the view type toLarge iconsand selectNetwork and Sharing Center.

Step 3:SelectChange adapter settingsin the left pane.

Step 4:In the Network Connections window, right-click on your network adapter and selectEnable.

After that, run the network troubleshooter and see if Windows can detect your network adapter driver.

Fix 2: Update or Reinstall the Network Adapter Driver

The “Windows could not find a driver for your network adapter” error can also appear if your PC’s current network driver is old or corrupt. You can update the network adapter driver via the Device Manager.

Step 1:Right-click on theStart iconand selectDevice Managerfrom the list.

Step 2:Double-click onNetwork adaptersto expand it. Right-click your network adapter and selectUpdate driver.

From there, follow the on-screen instructions to finish updating the network driver. After that, run the network troubleshooter again.

If the error persists even after you update the driver, there’s a chance that the network adapterdriver is corrupt. In that case, you can uninstall the driver to fix the error message.

Once removed, restart your PC, Windows should automatically install the missing network adapter driver. Following that, you should no longer see the “Windows could not find a driver for your network adapter” error when you run the troubleshooter.

Fix 3: Change Power Management Settings

Windows may turn off your lesser-used devices and drivers if you’ve configured it to save power. When that happens, Windows will fail to communicate with those drivers and trouble you with such errors.

You can prevent Windows from turning off the network adapter driver by configuring its power management settings.

Step 1:Right-click on theStart iconand selectDevice Managerfrom the list.

Step 2:ExpandNetwork adapters, right-click on your network adapter, and selectProperties.

Step 3:Under thePower Managementtab, uncheckAllow the computer to turn off this device to save power, and hitOKto save changes.

Fix 4: Use System Restore

System Restoreis a useful utility that creates a backup of your entire system regularly or before making major system changes. You can use it to revert Windows to its earlier state in case the above solutions don’t work. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Step 1:Open the search menu, type increate a restore point, and select the first result that appears.

Step 2:Under the System Protection tab, click theSystem Restorebutton.

Step 3:ClickNext.

Step 4:Select the restore point before the error first appeared.

Step 5:Review all the details one more time before hittingFinish.

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Last updated on 02 July, 2024

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