Absolutely strange issue where W10 would NOT connect to the internet, and freeze all menus relating to it!

[Unbalanced531]

Hi there, let me start off by saying my problem was already resolved, but that it's something I've never encountered before and I'm afraid could happen again.

I've had Windows 10 working fine with everything for about a month now, but today it suddenly disconnected from the internet (I connect with a USB wireless adapter to a router). The start icon said there were no connections available which was confirmed by the empty list that clicking on it brought up, but any other device I could find would connect to the router just fine, and resetting everything on the router didn't solve anything. In addition, trying to USB tether with my phone didn't work and didn't bring up anything, even though it's worked in the past.

Then looking through the options on my computer, I found that almost any useful option either didn't open or froze the window. For example, I could open the network and sharing center (which showed no active networks or anything), but trying "change adapter settings" opened up nothing until half an hour later when it showed up. Then I could see my wireless adapter, but trying to disable it did nothing, likewise for my wired connection (which still showed as nothing connected even with the phone tether). Additionally, Windows 10's new "Network and Internet" settings that you reach through the control panel didn't show a Wi-Fi panel, and trying to switch from any panel besides what it started on (the unhelpful "Data usage") froze this window too.

The only thing I could find that actually did tell me my USB adapter was plugged in and working was the device manager, which was operating as normal. In the end, what I think solved the problem was uninstalling it through here and reinstalling it with the original disc. After a restart, everything was back to normal. However, I'm still skeptical whether this was the solution, because I don't have any explanation for why every other window was freezing and any kind of networking failed to work or even be seen.

Has anybody seen this situation before, and if so, what did you do to solve it? I'm still worried that what I did before was a fluke and that Windows 10 might shut down my internet for some unknown amount of time with no solution.

 

[Slashgeek]

When a bad driver is active, it may cause a cascade of other problems in processes that are making use of it. In this case, any Internet-related programs would be trying to access your potentially incompatible or malfunctioning network adapter driver. The easiest solution is to install the latest Windows 10-compatible drivers for your network device, which likely will not be present on the CD that it came with, unless it is extremely new.