PC thinks wifi adapter doesn't exist

[LegionSteve]

My parents have somehow disabled the wifi adapter on their PC so that it appears not to exist. It seems to be connected because the lights on the back of the wifi card are on. But if I look in device manager under network adapters where it should be, it is not there, even if I show hidden devices.

The only thing I can think of is to remove the wifi card, start the PC without it, shut down and put the card back in the slot, then start the PC and hope that it recognises the wifi card as new hardware. Before I try that, can anyone suggest a better way please?

Edit: tried taking the wireless card out and putting it in a different slot, PC still won't recognise it.

 

[leif erikson]

Have you tried checking to ensure it is enabled in the bios?

If it is a laptop, many laptops have switches on them to turn wifi on and off. They may have hit the switch by accident.

Assume it is windows 10, check to ensure wireless radio is on.

You can also try a system restore back to when it was working.

Good luck.

 

[LegionSteve]

Thanks for the reply

I had a look in the bios but wasn't able to find the problem. It is a desktop PC not a laptop, and since the wireless card does not appear anywhere in windows, there is no way to switch it on or off. After that I gave up, since I was only visiting my parents for the weekend. My time was better spent drinking their wine than trying to fix the damn computer. I have a USB wireless adapter that I bought when I was having problems with my own PC, next time I see them I will lend it to them and see if that works.

 

[leif erikson]

You're welcome. Sorry you didn't find the issue.