Enabling/Disabling Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport

Question

I disabled my Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport network adapter from Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections.

Just right clicked on the miniport nic and clicked disable, and its gone. Now how could I enable it? After disabling the nic, netsh wlan start hostednetwork is not working any more. The response is,

The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.

It was working flawlessly, before I disabled the adapter, Anyway, for reference here is the output of netsh wlan show drivers,

Interface name: Wi-Fi

Driver                    : Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter
Vendor                    : Qualcomm Atheros Communications Inc.
Provider                  : Microsoft
Date                      : 7/3/2012
Version                   : 3.0.0.130
INF file                  : C:\Windows\INF\netathrx.inf
Files                     : 2 total
                            C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\athrx.sys
                            C:\Windows\system32\drivers\vwifibus.sys
Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported     : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
Hosted network supported  : Yes
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
                            Open            None
                            Open            WEP-40bit
                            Open            WEP-104bit
                            Open            WEP
                            WPA-Enterprise  TKIP
                            WPA-Personal    TKIP
                            WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
                            WPA2-Personal   TKIP
                            Vendor defined  TKIP
                            WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                            Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                            WPA-Enterprise  CCMP
                            WPA-Personal    CCMP
                            WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
                            Vendor defined  CCMP
                            WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                            Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                            WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                            Vendor defined  Vendor defined
Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
                            Open            None
                            Open            WEP-40bit
                            Open            WEP-104bit
                            Open            WEP
                            WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                            Vendor defined  Vendor defined

netsh wlan show hostednetwork,

Hosted network settings

Mode                   : Allowed
SSID name              : "aczire"
Max number of clients  : 100
Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
Cipher                 : CCMP

Hosted network status

Status                 : Not available

After executing,

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow

The hosted network mode has been set to allow.

But again in,

netsh wlan show hostednetwork

Hosted network settings

Mode                   : Allowed
SSID name              : "aczire"
Max number of clients  : 100
Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
Cipher                 : CCMP

Hosted network status

Status                 : Not available

netsh wlan show settings

Wireless LAN settings

Show blocked networks in visible network list: No
Only use GP profiles on GP-configured networks: No
Hosted network mode allowed in WLAN service: Yes
Allow shared user credentials for network authentication: Yes
Block period: Not Configured.
Auto configuration logic is enabled on interface "Wi-Fi"

Any idea how to re-enable the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport adapter (in Windows 8 Pro RTM)? I'm at my wits end, Please help :(

Just follow instructions in this link – Dec 01 '12 at 21:23 — , Dec 01 '12 at 21:23

score 53 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 13 '13 at 14:48

53

You go to your "device manager", find your "network adapters", then should find the virtual wifi adapter, then right click it and enable it. After that, you start your cmd with admin privileges, then try:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

edited Oct 13 '13 at 14:48

shamp00

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answered Dec 03 '12 at 07:27

xiaohu

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This solution does not work for me. The Virtual Adapter is enabled but it's not visible in control panel --> network adapters. Trying to uninstall it / dis-re-enable it / dis-re-allow hostednetwork does not work for me. – kevin Oct 21 '13 at 17:46
@A.Danischewski Still missing for me. – kprovost7314 Nov 26 '15 at 16:18

score 16 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 25 '13 at 01:24

16

From accepted answer:

You go to your "device manager", find your "network adapters", then should find the virtual wifi adapter, then right click it and enable it

Maybe your device is hidden - first you should unhide it from the device manger, then re-enable the adapter from the device manger tools.

edited Mar 25 '13 at 01:24

bfavaretto

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answered Mar 25 '13 at 01:06

Pouya

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This was necessary in my case. Thanks! – Nathan Taylor Dec 06 '13 at 23:24

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 18 '13 at 03:56

3

I had the exact problem and I couldn't find the hosted network adapter in network connections or device manager. So what I did was to disable and enable the wifi adapter after this the hosted network adapter should be listed in the device manager, then you just enable the adapter from there.

answered Apr 18 '13 at 03:56

surrealtech

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Tip: if the adapter doesn't seem to be disabled in Device Manager, try closing and re-opening Device Manager. Just pressing F5 won't refresh the list. – Jonathan Jul 01 '13 at 18:35
The answer and the first comment here combines a perfect answer to this problem. It's quite a bit strange behavior in Windows 10 because as far as I remember in Windows 7, the adapter icon of the virtual wifi adapter won't be disappeared after being disabled. – King King Sep 10 '16 at 19:08

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 20 '12 at 10:42

2

I have the same issue after I disabled the adapter in the Network setting. But when I go to the System->Device Manager and find it from the "Network adapters" and re-enable it. Then everything works again.

answered Dec 20 '12 at 10:42

Steve

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Thanks, it helped for my scenario! – Adheep Jul 24 '15 at 17:01

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered May 30 '13 at 23:55

2

In my case I had to uninstall and reinstall the wireless adapter driver to be able to execute the command

answered May 30 '13 at 23:55

Dediqated

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Tried this after everything else, still doesn't work. It used to, just quit randomly, around the same time that my VMWare player network drivers quit as well..I have to use a USB wifi stick to set up a hosted network now. – Austin Burk May 27 '15 at 04:21

score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 06 '16 at 11:21

2

In the device manager you can select View > Show hidden devices

answered Jun 06 '16 at 11:21

Krv Perera

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 01 '12 at 19:42

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Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport should start and bind automatically to the underlying function driver. Try disabling and reenabling the AR9285 driver.

answered Dec 01 '12 at 19:42

SomeWittyUsername

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score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 06 '13 at 12:26

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Try to add this hotfix: hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%207/Windows%20Server2008%20R2%20SP1/sp2/Fix362872/7600/free/427221_intl_i386_zip.exe

answered Apr 06 '13 at 12:26

Aditya Bokade

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score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 27 '14 at 01:33

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http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Set-Up-a-Wireless-Hotspot-Windows-7/step1/Step-1-Enabling-the-Microsoft-Virtual-WiFi-Minipor/

and then execute in command prompt (ADMIN)

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

answered Mar 27 '14 at 01:33

NoWar

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Enabling/Disabling Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport

Hosted network settings

Hosted network status

Hosted network settings

Hosted network status

Wireless LAN settings

9 Answers9

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