SOLVED Broadcom Virtual Wireless adapter preventing W10 to download

[cyclist]

Good Morning,
I have a Dell Inspiron N4010; W7, SP1 installed and like many trying to download W10. Evidently, this adapter is preventing this download. I opened my device manager and located the adapter and updated the drivers and result indicated that I have the most recent or current driver. Any thoughts or than purchasing another laptop would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Did you go to Dells driver/support website for your driver. I find that using anything MS related to update drivers all ends with that same message that it's running the most current driver. When in fact it's not.

 

[cyclist]

Did you go to Dells driver/support website for your driver. I find that using anything MS related to update drivers all ends with that same message that it's running the most current driver. When in fact it's not.

Good Morning Bassfisher,
Thanks for your reply I appreciated it. I went into Dell Support.com and entered my Service tag info and there was 5 recommended driver updates and so, I downloaded those updates. apparently, non of which dealt with my current issue.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Was there a section for windows 10 drivers....those are the ones I'd be looking for. Also you might want to check for a BIOS update is available.

 

[cyclist]

Was there a section for windows 10 drivers....those are the ones I'd be looking for. Also you might want to check for a BIOS update is available.

there was one BIOS driver update which I download/ updated. But I will go back and check out specific update for W10. Thank again.

 

[BigFeet]

Is it physically not downloading, or is it saying it's incompatible? I hope you figure it out. I had nothing but problems with my dell's broadcom wireless adapter and linux.

 

[cyclist]

Is it physically not downloading, or is it saying it's incompatible? I hope you figure it out. I had nothing but problems with my dell's broadcom wireless adapter and linux.

Hello Bigfeet,
Thanks, it says that this device is not compatible with W10 and therefore, might not be able to connect to the internet. It is truly frustrating given that I have had this system only 4 years and barely used. It appears given what I have read on Dell's forums that the only work around is to buy another newer Dell product. Well I will need to get another system at some point but given Dell's support or lack of it, my next purchase will not be a Dell product.

 

[BigFeet]

I wouldn't go as far as to buy a new laptop yet. I'm sure there will be appropriate drivers down the road. I'd hold tight with Windows 7 for now. Or, if you really want to go the Windows 10 route, you can buy a cheap wifi dongle, for about $20, if you don't mind taking up a usb port. My only advice there is stay away from the Netgear WNA3100 adapter. It works great with Vista and Windows 7. It drops the connection with Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

edit: And yes, I would advise staying away from dell. They are not what they were in the 90's. They use the cheapest components possible. Many of them proprietary, so you have to buy replacements from them, at a premium price. Most of the common manufacture's use the same practice.

 

[ottiliegirl]

Not interested in this topic any more. I dropped me Dell computer that wasn't compatible and now I've replaced it with an HP with Windows 10 installed. Good luck to any others still having issues

 

[cyclist]

Not interested in this topic any more. I dropped me Dell computer that wasn't compatible and now I've replaced it with an HP with Windows 10 installed. Good luck to any others still having issues

Hi,
In the case the Dell N4010 14R; the resolution to the incompatible Broadcom Virtual Wireless adapter was actually solved via the Dell Forum which was suggested by Bigfeet and Bassfisher. But in any case, in the dell forum a tech walked me thru the uninstalling of the Broadcom while keeping the drivers. I did that and installed W10 using the Media Center tool. And the download wet flawlessly without any issue.

 

[Cruise Chic]

I followed the steps you listed in the above forum, but Windows 10 still has an issue with the wireless adapter. I have uninstalled the Broadcom app but left the driver. What do I do next?