She opened Device Manager again. Under Properties > Details > Hardware IDs, she saw VEN_14E4 (Broadcom) and DEV_432B . Broadcom it was.
And the 802.11n card? It worked perfectly for another two years, until the motherboard finally gave out. But that’s a different story. Always know your hardware ID, and never assume Windows Update will get wireless drivers right on an older HP with Windows 7 64-bit.
She right-clicked. .
She downloaded the 78 MB executable, ran it as administrator, and watched the progress bar fill. Success. Reboot.
Here’s a short, relatable story about that exact situation. 802.11n wlan driver windows 7 64-bit hp
No red “X” on the network icon in the taskbar. No list of neighbor’s Wi-Fi. Just a small, infuriating yellow triangle with an exclamation mark.
The yellow triangle was gone. Her home Wi-Fi appeared. She clicked , entered the password, and the little bars lit up white. She opened Device Manager again
She never trusted Windows Update with drivers again. From that day on, she kept a folder on her desktop labeled with the Broadcom installer inside.