Update killed my net connection
On Saturday last, my Acer Z3-600 was automatically updated and now I can’t access the internet. Acer originally told me that the drivers needed updating, but the link it provided didn’t work. Now I’m told my machine isn’t eligible for the Creators Update so I must reinstall Windows 10 or hope Microsoft issues another update. This is a disgrace!
[ PAUL LATHAM ]
Alex Cox replies: We feel your pain, Paul. That said, I think Acer rather than Microsoft is culpable here — four years is no time to drop extended support for a product. However, just because Acer doesn’t officially support your all-in-one PC doesn’t mean it’s not going to continue working. When you lose net access, the first thing you should do is verify it’s not a configuration issue using the step-by-step guides and troubleshooters highlighted at the Microsoft Help article here: support.microsoft.
com/help/10741. If you suspect a driver problem, then the latest driver for your PC’s RTL8168 wireless chip can be downloaded from
www.realtek.com — click the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Series Drivers link. If it’s already installed, rolling back the driver to the previous version as outlined in the Microsoft Help article may provide the cure. If neither option works, you may have to bite the bullet and reinstall Windows 10 from scratch, or even roll back to Windows 8.1.