All network connections missing
I accidently deleted "MAC bridge miniport" under device manager (meant to delete my network adapter's driver) and now the only thing I can find under the network connections is my bluetooth device. Neither of my network adapters appear nor does my wireless card. However I can connect to the internet and network using my wireless card (but not by my wired connection). I can see the drivers for the adapters and wireless cards under the device manager. How can I get this back? I am running Windows 7 x64 Home Premium, which I upgraded from Vista x64 Home Premium.
December 29th, 2009 1:58am

Have you try doing a system restore or a repair using win7 CD?
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December 29th, 2009 3:24am

Actually, after removing the network adapter in Device Manager, most of them will be reinstalled automatically when restarting the machine. Currently, I suggest you open Device Manager and check whether there is an exclamation mark or question mark in it. Also, is there any item under "Network Adapter"? If there is any exclamation mark or question mark, please right click it and update the driver. If it does not work, please download the driver from the manufacturer's website. Also, you can let me know the brand or model of the machine. Thanks, Novak
December 29th, 2009 5:15am

Novak,That doesn't work.. Like Quenya .. I had the same problem ... if the MAC Bridge is manually removed from Device Manager it causes all adapters to fail on a subsequent reboot, leaving the exclamation mark next to the drivers in Device Manager ... this nuked both the Wireless NIC and the physical NIC... (the former was the bridged adapter).. uninstalling the network cards and letting hardware rediscovery take place makes no difference. There's some underlying problem that prevents Windows resolving this problem ... even removing the driver from Device Manager doesn't work.. nor does disabling the card in the BIOS and then reactivating it make any difference.. I have a mobile broadband Internet NIC which was the only "card" left standing in the aftermath (under which now I'm posting this message). I can connect to the Internet but the card does not appear in Control Panel|Networks any more, nor does the Wireless NIC or the Ethernet card. I suggest that whoever marks these threads as successful should try the MAC bridge destructive approach before putting a green tick against the advice posted above. Yes, removing a network adapter in the conventional sense of the word will fix normal everyday problems but this is MAC bridging we're talking about and it can be very destructive... as the original poster stated, he sees no network adapters (apart from Bluetooth). For the record, I work with Windows 7 a lot (in a support capacity) but this is a major PITA if the only redress is to reinstall the OS, as it seems to break all the normal conventions of install/uninstall with network adapters. The only advice I can give to anyway interested in using the MAC bridging function is .... DON'T..... Please tick this "green" as problem resolved, so your users don't have to share the same pain ;-)Regards,Mylo
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January 15th, 2010 1:57am

Mylo is correct!! I am so not re-installing! I finally got win7 to the way I want it - there must be some way to recreate the MAC bridge?? I delete it by mistake when getting rid of old VPN PPP adapters!
September 9th, 2010 6:44am

Hi All, Just wanted to report the following steps is a way to reset the network config - I think just for the management pane as none of my NIC settings changed - this re-showed my LAN adapter!!! Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER. Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network Right-click this subkey, click Export , and then save the selected branch in a file. Click the Network subkey again, and then delete the Config entry. Do not delete the Network subkey. The Config entry will be reconstructed when you restart the computer. Restart the computer. You may have to manually turn off the computer. The config key is re-created on the next boot up! :) And what do ya know - my connections are back & I can manage them! :) Enjoy
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September 10th, 2010 9:58pm

Seriously, if I could, I would kiss you (maybe, depends). Any who, thanks for the great solution :)
March 22nd, 2011 7:39am

perfect solution RaZz0R - adapters can now be seen
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March 31st, 2011 10:22am

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