PC Problem - Windows 8 related

[Tdm]

I believe there are one or two people who use this Forum who currently work in I.T.

I used to work in I.T. (but 20 years ago now) and friends & neighbours here in Tenerife often come to me with their PC problems and I can usually help them out, but I am stuck on the latest problem that has landed in my lap and wondered if someone on here might know the answer.

Since being brought to my attention the problem a lady neighbour is having with her Notebook
I have discovered lots of others (who run Windows 8.1) have had to, but none of the solutions suggested on the Microsoft Community Website that I have tried have worked.

The PC in question is a HP Pavilion G6 Notebook (Spanish version with Spanish keyboard),
running Windows 8.1, and all of a sudden the Wi-Fi facility has turned itself off and the Wi-Fi on/off software switch in W8 is "greyed out" and is saying Wi-Fi off but won't allow you to turn it on again. The Hp PC referred to has a function switch (f12) for turning flight mode on and off but this is correctly showing flight mode "off" and toggling it won't unblock the turn Wi-Fi  on software switch (there doesn't appear to be a "physical" switch on this PC for turning Wi-Fi on and off).

After investigating (on my own PC) It appears quite a number of other W8 Users have had the same problem, and there is even a YouTube video about the problem with a disgruntled User having a go at Microsoft for not sorting it out or offering a solution.

Firmware & other checks say that Wi-Fi is functioning normally, but it is not and W8 is saying it is turned off. The lady having the problem needs Wi-Fi as she hasn't got a cable from her Router to connect directly and the Router is in a different room.

Anyone on here had a similar problem or can offer a solution, not had the problem (yet) on my own W8 Laptop but I am connected to my Router via a cable, although my wife  uses her own PC wirelessly and she is using a Sony Laptop & W8.

There is one more thing I want to try, and that is a suggestion that you boot up in Safe mode, but even that is more difficult and messy in W8 that it used to be with previous Operating Systems. It has been suggested that I use the Dos command prompt and type
"BCDEDIT /SET safeboot network" to get a Safe Boot which may allow me to switch Wi-Fi on again (or it will boot up with it on) but last night I got an invalid command message when I typed the above in, unless the parameter format I typed is not quite right, or it is case sensitive.

I hate to be beaten when trying to fix a problem, but this one has got me stumped so far, and I am reluctant to return the PC saying I have been unable to fix the problem.

Can anyone on here help at all?

[Tdm]

Thanks Paul - Did manage to boot up in Safe Mode (with Networking) but the turn WIFi on switch unfortunately is still greyed out. Going to try the Hp.com website again and ask it to install any Bios updates or driver updates - but because it is a Spanish PC everything comes up in Spanish making it more difficult. Going to see if I can get it to talk to me in English.

[Geoff]

I am running W8 with all the updates up to date, I run in desktop mode and never had the problem you are stating, when I click on the WiFi at the bottom right I get a horizontal bar that comes out with a WiFi on off button, but also on my laptop I have a physical WiFi switch.

Never heard of it being greyed out, my wife has a windows 7 laptop and her WiFi totally went on her laptop so I had to buy her a dongle to get her up and running again.

Only thing that comes to my mind is if the laptop has had a recent security update and it is not compatible with the WiFi driver on the laptop, maybe try going back to the last known good configuration  and see if that sorts it out, but you would still be missing the latest security update.

Hope you can sort it all out.

[Tdm]

Thanks once again for your prompt replies. I am not a lover of Windows 8 and much prefer the Windows 7 Professional operating system I had on my previous Laptop. On my own PC I run it as though it was Windows 7 and go to straight to my Desktop on boot up and hardly ever use the Apps screens. Have spent a couple of days now trying to sort out the WiFi problem on my neighbour's PC and it has prevented me from working on my layout so I am keen to get it resolved or hand the PC back and suggest the lady contacts one of the local PC problem fixers who advertise in the papers.

One of the reasons I drive a Classic Car is that they are more simple to fix than today's current models that have to be plugged into a diagnostic machine to determine what is wrong with them, whereas all I need is a spanner, a screwdriver (and a big hammer!) to fix things on my own car. Likewise older generation computers and operating systems were easier to repair but don't have the same power and capabilities as today's equivalent.

Whilst on the subject of ancient & modern, I do not posses or want a "smart" phone, my simple LG mobile I just use for making and receiving calls & texts, although I do have a Samsung Tablet which was a Xmas present from my (grown up) children a couple of years ago, but I don't use it all that much, I prefer instead the decent sized screen and keyboard of my Toshiba I7 chip Satalite Laptop. I do take the Tablet with me though when leaving the Country as it is easier to transport than a Laptop.

[Calnefoxile]

Simple solution, bin Windows 8 and rebuild with Windows 7..... 

Cheers

Neal.

[Dorsetmike]

   ^^^ wot 'e said ^^^

[EtchedPixels]

If it'll run windows 7. Lot of the newest hw won't.

[Dorsetmike]

If it'll run windows 7. Lot of the newest hw won't.

Why not, I've not had any problems with my new PC, about 6 weeks old. Quad core AMD, 2TB disc 8 Gb RAM.

[Tdm]

It's not my PC otherwise I probably would have used my W7 Professional Disk (which I still have) to re-install everything and start afresh. Windows XP was O.K., Vista awful, Windows 7 O.K., and don't know anyone who has Windows 8 who is happy with it.

Wonder what will come next? I tend to avoid Microsoft products if I can as there are usually
better cheaper alternatives. For example I use Firefox as my Browser, Incredimail wrapped around Gmail for Email, and LibreOffice for Word Processing and Spreadsheets. The main problem with Internet access in Tenerife is it depends on where you live as to the speed of your connection and I rarely get anything above 2.5Mbytes, and some days it drops as low as 0.1Mps. Broadband also costs a lot more here, one of the few things that do.

[Tdm]

Well  - Sod's Law has won again.

After spending days trying to fix my lady neighbours PC problem, including the remedies suggested on here, but without having any success, tonight I handed back the PC to it's owner, apologizing for not being able to fix her WiFi loss problem.

I handed over a list of possible solutions I had tried but failed with, and the lady said she understands little about computers, but earlier that night had received another possible remedy solution on her Ipad from a HP User site that involved removing the battery, starting up without it, and pressing certain function keys during the restart.

I told her I hadn't seen that solution myself, but to give it a go anyway (nothing to lose), and half an hour later she rang me to say it solved the problem and she had WiFi working again.

Feeling a little embarassed I told her to write down exactly what she had done and I will pass it on to others experiencing the same problem, and I will also post it on here.

At least the lady now has a properly functioning Notebook again, but it took someone with little I.T. knowledge to solve something that someone (me) with 30 years experience in the Computer Field could not.

I had tidied up her PC beforehand though and put some software on it with instructions to run it every month to keep her PC clean & tidy and free of bugs & junk including SmartDefrag for defragmenting her Disks and prioritizing her files for faster processing.

So all's well that ends well, even if it hasn't done my reputation as a knowledgeable computer person a lot of good. At least I can sleep well tonight not milling the problem round in my head now that it is solved, as happened the last 2 nights, and I can get back back to planning some more changes to my Layout.

Will make a final post on here about how the problem was solved as soon as I have the information, you never know someone on here might have the same problem in the future.

[Geoff]

Glad the problem is solved, my laptop was windows vista and I was allways taking the battery out and replacing it so it would do certain things, then I saw the upgrade deal for £25 to windows 8 and thought good riddance vista, the laptop has run brilliantly since, I did not like windows 8 without the start button but after installing a 3rd party button the laptop is better under windows 8.

[Tdm]

As promised I said I would post the remedy for clearing the stuck Windows 8 WiFi on/off software switch. I would never have though of doing this myself in a month of Sundays, so how someone worked it out I don't know. The solution was (and WiFi is still working this morning the lady tells me) :-

1. Remove battery and unplug
2. Press and hold the power key for 30 seconds
3. Leave battery out but plug power supply back.
4. Press power button and immediately tap F10 key a number of tumes.
5. The bios set up menu appears
6. Select default
7. Select save and exit.

How did someone work that lot out!?

[scotsoft]

I think you could have ignored steps 1 to 3 as from 4 onwards is a fairly standard way of getting into the Bios setup screen 

cheers John.

[Nick]

I think you could have ignored steps 1 to 3 as from 4 onwards is a fairly standard way of getting into the Bios setup screen 

cheers John.

Happy to be corrected, but I think steps 1 & 2 are intended to force a completely cold restart by removing all power and discharging any capacitors. I had a similar set of instructions given me by Toshiba support to solve a problem on one of their laptops.

Although that problem wasn't solved  :'( , the machine did boot up differently than it ever had before.

[EtchedPixels]

If it'll run windows 7. Lot of the newest hw won't.

Why not, I've not had any problems with my new PC, about 6 weeks old. Quad core AMD, 2TB disc 8 Gb RAM.

It'll depend on the machine - desktop PCs tend to be a bit more server like so the process takes longer. The newest systems don't have all the legacy hardware required to run old operating systems, nor do they have the compatibility services module required to run them.

If you are buying to upgrade to Win 7 from Win 8 then you need to double check, and that's probably going to get more and more true.