Solved: There might be a problem with the driver for Wi-Fi adapter

Networking errors are usually quite difficult to solve as the cause for the problem is often hard to point out. This error message appears after running the networking troubleshooter and it’s not so self-explanatory. People often spent days and days trying to find the answer.

We went online and decided to look for the best solutions confirmed by other users. There are plenty of solutions for multiple causes so make sure you follow the article in order to resolve your problem.

What Causes the “There might be a problem with the driver for the Wi-Fi adapter” Error?

There are multiple causes to this problem but some of them stand out since they are common for many users who reported the problem online. Here is the list:

Solution 1: Reinstall or Update Your Driver

If the driver is old and in need of replacement, you should definitely consider updating it via Device Manager. Even if you receive the message saying that the driver is up to date, try giving it a restart and check to see if the “There might be a problem with the driver for the Wi-Fi adapter” message still appears!

1. Click Start and type Run. Select Run, A Run dialog box will appear.
2. Type “devmgmt.msc” in the run dialog box and click the OK button. This opens Device Manager immediately.

3. In Device Manager, expand the category where you think the driver or device that is causing the issue is located. Make sure you find out the name of your networking device. There should be no doubt as you don’t want to end up uninstalling the wrong device.
4. When you locate the device, right-click on it and choose the Uninstall device option from the context menu.

5. You may be required to confirm the uninstallation process. Check the box next to “Delete the driver software for this device” option and click the OK button.
6. Restart your computer for the change to take effect. After restarting, Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver and replacing it with the manufacturer’s driver.
7. If Windows doesn’t replace the driver automatically, open Device Manager again, select the Action menu and click on the Scan for hardware changes option. Check to see if the error message still appears.

Solution 2: Reset WinSock

“netsh winsock reset” is a helpful command that you can use in Command Prompt to reset Winsock catalog back to the default setting or its clean state. You can try this method if you are experiencing the “Unable to query server info for the invite” when trying to launch ARK: Survival Evolved.

1. Search for “Command Prompt” by typing it either right in the Start menu or by pressing the search button right next to it. Right-click the first entry which will pop up as a search result and select the “Run as administrator” context menu entry.
2. Additionally, you can also use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination in order to bring up the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” in the dialog box which appears and use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination in order to run Command Prompt using administrator privileges.

3. Type in the following command in the window and make sure you press Enter after typing it. Wait for the “Winsock reset completed successfully” message or something similar to know that the method has worked and you haven’t made any mistakes while tying.

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset reset.log hit

4. Check to see if you still struggle with problems regarding your Internet connection.

Solution 3: Check to see whether all Necessary Services are Running

Each service has its list of dependency services. Those are the services it cannot run properly without. Sometimes several services share similar functionality and you need all of them to run if you want to avoid problems.

Check to see if all necessary services for WLAN AutoConfig are up and running and see if this solves your problem.

1. Open the Run dialog box by tapping the Windows Key + R key combination on your keyboard. Type “services.msc” in the Run box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open Services. You can also just search for Services in Start menu on Windows 10.

2. Locate a service named WLAN AutoConfig in the services list, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which will appear.
3. Navigate to the Dependencies tab in the Properties window and take note of all services. Find these services in the list, right-click on each one and repeat the process below. The same should be applied to the WLAN AutoConfig service as well.
4. If the service is started (you can check that just next to the Service status message), you should stop it by clicking the Stop button in the middle of the window. If it has already been stopped, leave it as it is (for now).

5. Make sure that the option under the Startup type menu in the service’s properties is set to Automatic before you proceed with the instructions. Confirm any dialogue boxes which may appear when you set the startup type. Click on the Start button at the middle of the window before exiting.

You may receive the following error message when you click on Start:

 "Windows could not start the service on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process."

If this occurs, follow the instructions below to fix it.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 from the instructions above in order to open the service’s properties. Navigate to the Log On tab and click on the Browse… button.

2. Under the “Enter the object name to select” box, type in your account’s name, click on Check Names and wait for the name to become recognized.
3. Click OK when you are finished and type in the password in the Password box when you are prompted with it if you have set up a password. It should now start without issues!

Solution 4: Disable AVG Network Filter Driver

This solution is aimed at AVG users who have chosen to install the AVG Network filter driver. It’s a part of the AVG security suite but it’s a known cause of this specific error. We recommend you turn this feature off in order to get rid of the error.

1. Use the Windows + R key combination which should immediately bring up the Run dialog box where you should write ‘ncpa.cpl’ in the bar and tap OK in order to open the Internet Connection settings item in Control Panel.

2. When the Internet Connection window opens by either of these methods, double-click on your active Network Adapter.
3. Then click Properties and locate the AVG Network Filter driver entry on the list. Disable the checkbox next to this entry and click OK. Restart your computer in order to confirm the changes and check to see if the problem occurs with your Internet connection again.