Windows 10 No Network Connection - 169 APIPA address forced

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jerry Y.
  • Start date Start date
J

Jerry Y.

Hello everyone,



I have been struggling with this issue for the past 2 weeks or so on and off trying to help fix my friend's girlfriend's laptop.


It's an HP-F010DX notebook that shipped with Windows (8 or 8.1, unsure) and she had taken the free Windows 10 Upgrade offer.
It currently runs Windows 10 Home Version 1607 Build 14393.447

The laptop worked fine for some months after the upgrade and "one day" she says, it stopped connecting to any network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.


From what I can tell the computer only ever receives IP addresses beginning with 169, which are invalid and part of the APIPA (standard? protocol?) in case a computer does not receive a proper response from the DHCP server. This happens with the RJ-45 port (wired, ethernet), the internal Wi-Fi adapter (Realtek - RTL8188EE 802.11 bgn Wi-Fi Adapter) running the latest drivers from HP. The problem also bizarrely occurs with a new USB Wi-Fi network adapter (RTL8811AU Wireless LAN 802.11ac USB 2.0 Network adapter) purchased to use as a work around.
All other devices connect to this router fine, can access the internet and each other
Only this HP Notebook experiences this issue. She claims it also will not connect at any other location. (I also have a friend experiencing a similar 169 IP issue but only attempting to connect to his home wi-fi, it works fine at my house, or at work, but that's for a different thread!)



When enabled the adapter RTL8188EE is listed as Wi-Fi #2 under Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network Connections


I attempted to rename it to Wi-Fi (remove the #2) and received the error message "Cannot rename this connection. A connection with the name you specified already exists. Specify a different name"




The 'ipconfig /all' command shows the Realtek 8188EE connects via DHCP to 169.254.1.107 with the MAC/physical address of EC-0E-C4-4F-6F-AE



may be relevant: also shows a Microsoft Wifi Direct Virtual Adapter #3 with the same MAC/physical address. There is more than one virtual wi-fi adapter under Device Manager when "Show hidden devices" is checked
may also be relevant: windows update seems to be hung while 45% of the way through an update

MABR: I can't seem to connect this computer to a homegroup, after connecting and receiving a 169 IP address, the computer reports it is connected to an Unidentified network with no internet connection.


I feel as if I have been through every permutation of solution offered on all of the Q&A websites I can google hitting the keywords found in here. Most threads seem to be dead ends of the problem mysteriously solving itself or there is a slightly different scenario at play (for instance their computer may allow wired ethernet connections, only their wi-fi is having a problem whereas hers will receive a 169 address on ALL adapters)

So far I've uninstalled and reinstalled the devices using the latest downloads offered from HP's support,
reset IP stacks via elevated command prompts,
attempted dubious registry "fixes" to remove the Virtual Wi-Fi adapter,
set Static IP addresses within the router bound to MAC Addresses and much more.

I'm not really sure how to proceed further. I do not believe there is malware involved and have run Kaspersky Labs TDSS killer to attempt to verify. Windows Firewall settings are set to allow everything fine, and there is no anti-virus installed on this computer that I can tell.


I can and will be very eager to answer questions and provide screenshots as quickly as possible for the Superstar that can help me get this computer connected! Although I have tried different solutions, I am willing to start over and re-attempt any solution on a path one believes will fix the issue. For your own sanity don't take my word for it that I have done any of this perfectly.


Thank you very much for reading my post, I apologize for the length but I tried to be thorough. I will regularly check for any replies

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