Smarter then Microsoft?

[jcham]

After the latest MS update (22) My bluetooth quit functioning. The icon is there and it is available in settings. The problem is it will not pair with any external bluetooth devices. It will search but never connects with anything ie; keyboards, mice, earphones. Microsoft support could not fix it. They're only fix was to do a win10 recovery. It solved nothing. Anyone want to try to outwit them. Tell me what info you need. I will provide.

[Reverend Jim]

You could uninstall the latest update and see if that fixes it. It could also be a coincidence where your Bluetooth hardware has failed. The problem with uninstalling is that Windows Update will just download an reinstall the update so in order to prevent that you could do one of two things

1. pause updates for a period
2. disable updates with gpedit.msc

Windows Home users do not typically have access to gpedit.msc, however, it can be enabled. Copy the following lines into the file enable-gpedit.cmd then run it in an admin shell window:

dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt
for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i"

You can then run gpedit by typing gpedit.msc. Expand

Local Computer Policy
    Computer Configuration
        Administrative Templates
            Windows Components
                Windows Update
                    Manage end user experience

Double click in the right panel on Configure Automatic Updates then select the Disabled radio button. Note that this will disable all updates to remember how you did this so you can re-enable it later.

GPedit lets you tweak a pile of things that would otherwise require registry hacking.

[rproffitt]

I find that Microsoft provided drivers can be hit or miss. Sometimes it fixed something, other times it breaks something.

Unless you own a Microsoft PC such as the Surface, my view is that you go get drivers from the maker and disable Windows Driver Updates. Here's one method:
Disable automatic driver install on Windows 10
Open Settings.
Click on System.
Click on About.
Under the “Related settings” section, click the System protection option.
Click the Hardware tab.
Click the “Device Installation Settings” button.
Select the “No (your device might not work as expected)” option.

As to fixing the bluetooth issue, IF the hardware is good, go to the maker's site, get and install the driver for your hardware after disabling Windows Driver Updates.

Remember that hardware does fail. It can fail unexpectedly and folk might think it's a Windows issue but it wasn't. How I figure this out is the above procedure where I disable driver updates then install the driver myself. If Bluetooth still fails I plug in another Bluetooth adapter along with its drivers then re-test.

[Reverend Jim]

Another possible test if you are so inclined is to boot off a linux live usb and check the bluetooth with that.

[jcham]

Thanks for the help. I resolve the problem by purchasing a Bluetooth USB adapter for $9. Works fine. Thanks again.