Windows 10 forced upgrade wiping out network adapter

[GKL1520]

Does anyone have a solution that actually works to stop Microsoft from forcing the update to the latest version of windows ? (I have tried several things already)
(and I can't use a metered connection as it has to be an Ethernet connection not wifi)

The version of windows I have on that computer is an earlier version of the Windows 10 Home version and Microsoft insists on upgrading it to the latest version.

The "windows update" keeps forcing the download and install of the latest version of windows, so far everything I tried to stop it doesn't seem to work, every time I use the "recovery" to go back to my previous version of windows within about a day it forces the update again, and again and again.

I wouldn't mind the latest version except that it wipes out my network adapter and nothing I tried fixes it EXCEPT going back to the previous version of windows.

Under "recovery" it even states if the latest version gives you problems go back to the previous version, so WHY does Microsoft even have the "recovery" option to go back to your previous version of windows if the latest version is causing problems, when it does NOT let you stay on the previous version but updates you to the latest version again within a day ?

This is getting very frustrating, it seems every day I do a recovery to my previous version of windows and every day Microsoft forces the update to the latest version which wipes out my network adapter (both wireless and Ethernet) and hence my ability to connect to the internet until I do a recovery back to the previous version.

Well, I just checked that computer and its in the process of updating to the latest version of windows AGAIN !!!!!

I guess tomorrow I'll see if it wiped out my network adapter yet again.

 

[Regedit32]

Welcome to the Forum GKL1520,

As a Windows 10 Home User using Ethernet you can make modifications to your Registry which will allow you to have a Metered Connection for Ethernet.

I've posted an article on this subject in our Forum, but you'll need to scroll down the article roughly 1/3 from top as the first part deals with Wi-Fi, and then I cover Ethernet users with Windows 10 Home.

You can read that article here:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...ered-connection-for-windows-10-home-users.48/


With regards to the Network Adapter being upset by the latest update, I've experienced that myself on an earlier build a year ago. I ended up using the Recovery Partition on my hard drive to return the PC to the state it was in when I bought it, then I downloaded the latest Build of Windows 10 and installed it. This worked for me.

Obviously, you'd want to back up important files and data [ e.g. saved emails ] if you took this measure.

If you can grab the original driver installation file for your working Network Adapter, another option after updating Windows 10, would then be to open your Device Manager, select the Network Adapter, and choose to remove the driver there [ and also check the box to delete the file from your hard drive ]. Then you could grab the installer file for the driver that does work and reinstall it.


Regards,

Regedit32

 

[GKL1520]

Welcome to the Forum GKL1520,

As a Windows 10 Home User using Ethernet you can make modifications to your Registry which will allow you to have a Metered Connection for Ethernet.

I've posted an article on this subject in our Forum, but you'll need to scroll down the article roughly 1/3 from top as the first part deals with Wi-Fi, and then I cover Ethernet users with Windows 10 Home.

You can read that article here:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...ered-connection-for-windows-10-home-users.48/


With regards to the Network Adapter being upset by the latest update, I've experienced that myself on an earlier build a year ago. I ended up using the Recovery Partition on my hard drive to return the PC to the state it was in when I bought it, then I downloaded the latest Build of Windows 10 and installed it. This worked for me.

Obviously, you'd want to back up important files and data [ e.g. saved emails ] if you took this measure.

If you can grab the original driver installation file for your working Network Adapter, another option after updating Windows 10, would then be to open your Device Manager, select the Network Adapter, and choose to remove the driver there [ and also check the box to delete the file from your hard drive ]. Then you could grab the installer file for the driver that does work and reinstall it.


Regards,

Regedit32

Thanks for your reply, it is appreciated !

I wouldn't mind the latest version of windows if it didn't wipe out both my wifi and Ethernet network adapters.

I tried looking for those files on my computer after the last restore but there were so many I wasn't sure which ones I needed. Maybe I could find a driver site online that had a driver installation download that would work.

Restoring my Ethernet and wifi adapters would be my preferred option, if that don't work then the metered Ethernet connection option would be my next choice.

Let me see if I can find my old driver online somewhere, I wrote down the name and version.

 

[GKL1520]

Welcome to the Forum GKL1520,

As a Windows 10 Home User using Ethernet you can make modifications to your Registry which will allow you to have a Metered Connection for Ethernet.

I've posted an article on this subject in our Forum, but you'll need to scroll down the article roughly 1/3 from top as the first part deals with Wi-Fi, and then I cover Ethernet users with Windows 10 Home.

You can read that article here:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...ered-connection-for-windows-10-home-users.48/


With regards to the Network Adapter being upset by the latest update, I've experienced that myself on an earlier build a year ago. I ended up using the Recovery Partition on my hard drive to return the PC to the state it was in when I bought it, then I downloaded the latest Build of Windows 10 and installed it. This worked for me.

Obviously, you'd want to back up important files and data [ e.g. saved emails ] if you took this measure.

If you can grab the original driver installation file for your working Network Adapter, another option after updating Windows 10, would then be to open your Device Manager, select the Network Adapter, and choose to remove the driver there [ and also check the box to delete the file from your hard drive ]. Then you could grab the installer file for the driver that does work and reinstall it.


Regards,

Regedit32

I was not able to fix either the Ethernet or the wifi adapter.

The upgrade does not delete my Ethernet and wifi adapters, but it somehow makes them unusable, when I check each of them in the device manager it has the same error message for both -

"This device cannot find enough resources it can use. (code 12)"

and nothing I tried has been able to make them usable again EXCEPT using recovery to restore the previous version of windows.

So I went ahead and used your directions to set the Ethernet connection to metered.

I'd like to have the security updates for protection, but it seems that the updater always says it must install the latest version of windows first, but that newest version is what makes my network adapters unusable.

Now is it correct that a metered connection might not stop all the updates ?

Would it stop my earlier version of windows 10 Home from being upgraded to the latest version - "1709" ?

I'm not really understanding how you managed to stop the latest version of windows from messing with your network adapters.

Thanks !

 

[Regedit32]

This device cannot find enough resources it can use. (code 12)

That error you are getting is basically telling you that more than one device has been assigned the same I/O thus both running devices are trying to grab the same memory slot per se, and hence the troubles.

This can occur if the BIOS has been incorrectly setup, or altered, or the operating system [ windows 10 ] has corrupted the settings.

If it was a bios issue, then checking for an update to your BIOS could resolve things, and if there is no update, then another way around this would be to remove the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes, to clear bios memory, then reinsert the battery and go into your BIOS and make sure its set to default settings.

Now is it correct that a metered connection might not stop all the updates ?

When you set your connection to Metered, Microsoft will still show possible updates for your computer, but it will not automatically download to your computer, as on a metered connection you need to manually choose to download any shown updates.

Microsoft has indicated a few months ago, that in a case of a significant security update, they will force that on all users regardless of their settings. This is to prevent situations like thousands of computers being used via a bot to interrupt hospital, government, and big business computers. I'm not sure though whether this policy has been implemented yet. Someone else may know more on that.

I'm not really understanding how you managed to stop the latest version of windows from messing with your network adapters.

In my original post to you I was working on the assumption that the latest Windows OS update was introducing a new driver for your network card. That may not be the actual issue given that error message you just posted, however, you can modify the Registry to prevent Microsoft's Windows Update Service from offering or downloading hardware device drivers. I've always been of the view, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it unless its a major security hole'.

I posted an article on how to achieve this back in the Creator Update days, but this ought to still work with the Fall Update too. See link below to see how:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...-from-downloading-hardware-driver-updates.54/


You could also take a look at Microsoft's option too:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...t-a-driver-update-from-reinstalling-in-window


Regards,

Regedit32

PS: Assuming that Error you are seeing is accurate, you can look in your Device Manager to find the hardware that is conflicting with your Network Adapter.

I've ruled out the possibility of faulty ports etc, given you have all ready stated previously, that all is well when rolling back.

 

[GKL1520]

That error you are getting is basically telling you that more than one device has been assigned the same I/O thus both running devices are trying to grab the same memory slot per se, and hence the troubles.

This can occur if the BIOS has been incorrectly setup, or altered, or the operating system [ windows 10 ] has corrupted the settings.

If it was a bios issue, then checking for an update to your BIOS could resolve things, and if there is no update, then another way around this would be to remove the CMOS battery for a couple of minutes, to clear bios memory, then reinsert the battery and go into your BIOS and make sure its set to default settings.



When you set your connection to Metered, Microsoft will still show possible updates for your computer, but it will not automatically download to your computer, as on a metered connection you need to manually choose to download any shown updates.

Microsoft has indicated a few months ago, that in a case of a significant security update, they will force that on all users regardless of their settings. This is to prevent situations like thousands of computers being used via a bot to interrupt hospital, government, and big business computers. I'm not sure though whether this policy has been implemented yet. Someone else may know more on that.



In my original post to you I was working on the assumption that the latest Windows OS update was introducing a new driver for your network card. That may not be the actual issue given that error message you just posted, however, you can modify the Registry to prevent Microsoft's Windows Update Service from offering or downloading hardware device drivers. I've always been of the view, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it unless its a major security hole'.

I posted an article on how to achieve this back in the Creator Update days, but this ought to still work with the Fall Update too. See link below to see how:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...-from-downloading-hardware-driver-updates.54/


You could also take a look at Microsoft's option too:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...t-a-driver-update-from-reinstalling-in-window


Regards,

Regedit32

PS: Assuming that Error you are seeing is accurate, you can look in your Device Manager to find the hardware that is conflicting with your Network Adapter.

I've ruled out the possibility of faulty ports etc, given you have all ready stated previously, that all is well when rolling back.

Yep, I should have been more clear about the network adapter.

Now when you said "That error you are getting is basically telling you that more than one device has been assigned the same I/O thus both running devices are trying to grab the same memory slot per se, and hence the troubles."

Does that mean ANY other device ? because there is only one device listed for each of the Ethernet and wifi adapters. Now in the device manager I did notice there are some devices that seem to have many many duplicate entries for the same device, was not sure if that affected anything or not.

I wonder if there is a way to find what I/O the network adapters are on and then what other device(s) have the same I/O, if so is it possible to just reassign those devices to an unsed I/O ?

The ideal solution would be to have the latest windows with the network adapters fixed, but so far that has been a perplexing challenge.

Thanks !

 

[GKL1520]

One other question for now -

Would the protection I get from having a Softether VPN server on that computer make it so not having all the Microsoft security updates not a real concern ?

.....in case your not familiar with that free open source software - https://www.softether.org/

Not that I still would not try to fix things so I can have the latest security updates with still having my network adapters usable, but wouldn't the VPN keep my computer safe in the meantime ?

 

[Regedit32]

Does that mean ANY other device

Yes it literally could be any other device. You'd need to check the properties of the Adapter, to review what it's saying with regards to the conflict. You ought to get a clue there which other device and note the I/O details as if you check the properties of the other devices listed you ought to see one using the same address.

Theoretically disabling the other device, would allow the adapter to work. You could try that as a test, and if it resolved your adapter issue, then then next thing to do would be to manually assign a different address for the offending device.

Your additional protection [ if kept up to date ] would certainly help, but wen Microsoft release a security update its wise to install them. Generally they include these updates packaged with the cumulative update anyway.

In the last few months there have been security updates for Flash Player, which is built in to most modern internet browsers, including Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome etc ... So have those patches is important given people creating the virus and trojans target known security issues.

 

[GKL1520]

Yes it literally could be any other device. You'd need to check the properties of the Adapter, to review what it's saying with regards to the conflict. You ought to get a clue there which other device and note the I/O details as if you check the properties of the other devices listed you ought to see one using the same address.

Theoretically disabling the other device, would allow the adapter to work. You could try that as a test, and if it resolved your adapter issue, then then next thing to do would be to manually assign a different address for the offending device.

Your additional protection [ if kept up to date ] would certainly help, but wen Microsoft release a security update its wise to install them. Generally they include these updates packaged with the cumulative update anyway.

In the last few months there have been security updates for Flash Player, which is built in to most modern internet browsers, including Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome etc ... So have those patches is important given people creating the virus and trojans target known security issues.

Thanks, I'm going to check out those I/O details, but might need to wait till Friday. (it's after 7pm here and tomorrow will be busy)

I'll see about getting some screenshots of all the duplicate entries in the device manager so you can see what I'm talking about and if I should just delete all those duplicate entries.