Windows does not save passwords

[Jeffrey]

Yes, that's the difference between the two machines display of supposedly the same thing.

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

Looked around a little bit more ... and have three more things to try (from the machine with the no-wireless-passwords saved issue)

1) In Driver Manager, note the exact make/model of adapter, and get the latest driver from either the PC manufacturer's support site for the desktop, or from the manufacturer of the wireless device itself [if you can't find a newer driver .... just try removing the current one] .... We've already tried this with a few of your USB adapters, but maybe whatever device your girlfriend uses will have a new driver available. We've already tried the simple uninstall/reinstall of current drivers, and you tried with one of the quite recent drivers, but perhaps her device - if it's different - will have something usable and new. Once you've got the new driver installed, restart the PC, and see if you can get the wireless password to save.

2) Here's a procedure that I haven't tested myself, but that a few users in another forum have tried. It works for some systems, but not for all. I can't see any reason not to try it: it's a fairly straightforward procedure.

1) Open Search
2) Type services.msc
3) Open Services
4) Scroll down to wlan auto config, right-click, and select Stop.
5) Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\
6) Delete everything in this folder EXCEPT a folder called Profiles
7) Delete everything in the Profiles folder EXCEPT for a folder called Interfaces
8) Delete everything in the Interfaces folder
9) Restart wlan auto config
10) Connect to your wireless network
11) Enter your passkey (ensure the connect automatically box is checked)
12) Restart your computer.

Your computer should now connect to your wireless network automatically on boot.

3) And this last one involves turning off fast startup - I'll paste the post here (& give "darklore" his/her due ... quite an avatar name!)

Originally Posted by darklore
Ok guys well I have figured out the issue windows has a fast startup option in it power management so what this does is throws everything into sleep mode to get it back is what I did if you have a laptop is unplug the laptop hold down the power button for 10 secs to clear the sleep mode did this twice to make sure. After doing so i started windows back up imagine that windows took longer to load so i came to another option to my wifi adapter to never go into sleep mode which fixed it you can also go in the power options and turn off the fast startup. You go to control panel>hardware and sound> power options now in this click on the left where it says choose what i do when i hit the power button. Down at the bottom there are shutdown settings that are grayed out click on the change setting that are currently unavailable. They will now become ungrayed and uncheck turn on fast startup this should solve your issues. This should also work for anything that is wireless i.e. going into airplane mode or not seeing wireless bluetooth.

Hope one of these strategies helps...

 

[Jeffrey]

Hi,

1) I started with a Rosewill RNX-N180UBE & she has the same model that she got from me. I bought three of them in 2012 when I lived in a rented house & gave her one. Windows 10 updated the drivers to 4/1/2016.
I gave her the Asus USB-N53 to use & the PC is back at her house. The Asus's drivers Windows 10 updated to 4/5/2016. But I really preferred the fact that this USB adapter has a blue LED that blinks very slowly (4 seconds) when not connected but stays on solid when it is connected.


2) I also found this procedure on the net the other day. I also looked at my laptop to see how that Wlansvc folder was configured. Rather than delete stuff after stopping the service on the PC, I moved it to a flash drive & then removed the drive. Then I tested to see if her PC would connect. It didn't. I expected that Windows would rebuild the Wlansvc folder but it didn't touch it. So, I tried putting the folders back from the flash drive to resemble the way the laptop's Wlansvc folder was constructed. And then variations of that. None of it made any difference; none of it caused Windows to change that folder's setup either. I always stopped the service before messing with the folder & restarting after. I tried with a reboot after, without a reboot after & with a complete shut down after or not. None of it changed anything.


3) I have hibernate disabled on her PC & Fast Shutdown needs hibernate to work; under 'Power Settings' / 'Choose what the power buttons do' / 'Change settings that are currently unavailable' the 'Turn on Fast Startup' & 'Hibernate' items are missing. I also tried unplugging the PC several times in the last few days.
My girlfriend has used Hibernate for weeks at a time in the past so I learned to keep it disabled. That prevents lots of phone calls asking me to come fix her PC. I also removed 'Sleep' from the shutdown menu for the same reason.


4) Another thing I tried was to make sure the wifi adapter's 'Let Windows shutdown to save power' check box was cleared in Device Manager.


This is an interesting problem. I'm sure that there is a corrupted key or two in registry that, if changed would let all those missing 'wifi properties' buttons & 'forget connection' buttons reappear. Another thing I noticed is that the Airplane Mode button is also missing.

In my searches for a solution on the Internet I've come across a few other people with these exact same wifi problems.

Thanks for all you do.

 

[OldGrayGary]

Very interesting to hear that the "Airplane Mode" has gone missing too. That's something I haven't seen before.

Looks like a "learning opportunity" .... as my old teachers might have said.... I'll see if I can learn something new.

 

[OldGrayGary]

There are more curious and odd problems with wireless in Windows 10 than I first imagined.....

Strangely enough, some users with wireless/Airplane Mode troubles had their systems behave once they removed Skype. Weird. But might be worth trying, at least temporarily....

I'm going to have to keep looking a bit. For the moment, my brain is getting sore just trying to figure out what on Earth Skype might be doing that could affect such settings....

 

[Jeffrey]

Skype is not installed. Maybe I should install it & then uninstall it again.

It took me a while to realize that Airplane Mode was missing. All the desktop PCs in my house are on Ethernet. I live with my son & we don't usually use laptops or connect with wireless except for tablets, e-readers & phones. So, I'm not used to seeing Airplane Mode.

 

[Jeffrey]

When I got out my laptop to compare to her PC the other day, it was still running 10586.218 & had the Airplane Mode button. I concluded since the button was missing on her PC with 10586.318 that Microsoft had gotten rid of the feature, at least on PCs. My laptop did not update until the next day & I did not realize the button still existed in 10586.318 until laying in bed Thursday night, DING !

We took my girlfriend's PC back to her house Thursday & I will ask her to double check. I'm pretty sure the Airplane Mode button is completely missing & not just grayed out. Else, why would I think the feature was discontinued in her, the latest, version of Windows 10 ? I bring this up because my web searching, so far, reveals problems related to a grayed out Airplane Mode button. I'm still looking for my first missing Airplane Mode button posts.

 

[OldGrayGary]

Hi again

I imagine you may have already tried these, but sometimes they get overlooked: the Windows 10 built-in "Troubleshooters". Since they are provided by Microsoft, they are pretty good at "covering all the bases": they often check settings and details they we might not think of.

If you haven't already, see if anything is found & fixed by running the following "Troubleshooters":
1) Network Adapter Troubleshooter
2) Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter
3) Incoming Connections Troubleshooter
4) Internet Connections Troubleshooter

To be able to see all the troubleshooters in an easy-to-read list:
1) Right-click the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Control Panel
3) Select Troubleshooting
4) Select View All
5) Choose the troubleshooters you wish to run from the list.
_______________

I'm guessing that the reason the Airplane Mode icon goes missing has to do with whatever Windows 10 module keeps track of whether the computer has a wireless device that can be controlled by the Airplane Mode settings - or not.

See if our "continuing education" in the latest Windows 10 troubleshooting arena yields us a little progress .....

 

[Jeffrey]

I'll have her run those troubleshooters again. And also double check that the Airplane Mode button is missing altogether & not just grayed out. I was not able to reach her by phone last night.

Meanwhile, on my laptop, I think I'll take the name of the GUID folder under C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces\ & search the registry for it & see where that takes me.
Then, I'll do the same thing on another laptop with its own Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces\GUID folder(s) & look at the differences between the two.

I am making the assumption, here, that Windows should have rebuilt those folders on her machine. While, like you, I have seen posts that recommended deleting 'everything' (i.e. Wlansvc\MigrationData\ and the GUIDs wherever found), I haven't seen anything that tells me what the Wlansvc folder should look like afterwards.

 

[Jeffrey]

Well, searching on the GUID in the registry provides too much information. I had dozens of hits.

Back to the drawing board.

 

[Jeffrey]

I had my girlfriend, Patti, run those troubleshooters but with no results except 'a network cable is disconnected or broken' or 'you have no preferred wireless network, choose a wireless network' from the Internet Connections troubleshooter. But once she connects the wifi herself, the troubleshooter is satisfied. It seems that none of the troubleshooters are specific enough to find that saving a connection to be able to connect automatically doesn't work.

For a while we thought the Hardware and Devices would work because it said it found something & to reboot to apply the fix. But doing so didn't seem to change anything, that she could see.

 

[OldGrayGary]

For the interfaces folder, I imagine that those get populated as we first connect to a network.

I had similar hopes for the Hardware & Devices Troubleshooter ... I was wondering if some device on the system wasn't fully installed, and perhaps the troubleshooter would help.

Just for the heck of it, maybe she could check that there aren't any "Unknown Devices" listed in Device Manager.

I also wonder if when the computer was running Windows 7 - perhaps it had a manufacturer's wireless utility installed? ... maybe the settings are a bit tangled as a result (since the wireless settings wouldn't be handled by the Windows "Zero Configuration" utility, but by the manufacturer's..... and perhaps - even though that utility might be gone now - I wonder if some Registry settings might be left over ..... kind of a "settings hangover"

I'll let you know if I come across anything else...

 

[Jeffrey]

I uninstalled the wireless adapters, both the Rosewill & then the Asus, a few times from Device Manager as a possible solution. While in there I saw no Unknown Devices.

As delivered, the PC only had a modem card for dial-up & an Ethernet port on the motherboard. No wireless.

I did install the Asus wifi utility as a possible fix. It didn't work, most of the different tabs were blank, just like Windows own 'Wireless Properties', 'Manage Known Networks' & 'Airplane Mode'.