Bluetooth disappeared

I decided to use bluetooth to transfer some pics from my phone to my laptop as my data cable doesn't seem to be working. Everything worked ok when I was setting bluetooth up but now I need to use it in anger I cannot find any trace at all of bluetooth on my laptop, other than that my phone appears in Devices and Printers and assures me it is paired. There is no trace of bluetooth in device manager and it has also disappeared from 8.1 settings. The icon is not present in the taskbar notification area, nor does it appear in my phone when I try to send a pic.

It's Win 8.1 64 bit running on a Lenovo Edge E335 and the two bluetooth services are running.

I haven't previously plyed around with bluetooth, is it a bit temperamental?

 

Thanks David. Looks as if something may have happened to my BT adapter. I first used BT yesterday to transfer some photos but it was very slow. So I broke one of my own rules by running Driver Booster 2 and allowed it to update the BT driver. It transformed it, and the next batch of photos transferred in no time. However when I tried to run it today I couldn't get my phone to connect even though it was showing as paired in file explorer. Everything else about BT has disappeared too - nothing at all in Device manager and the BT service won't stay running.

I'd better restore a pre-BT image and start again. And back to never using driver updaters rolleyes

 

I meant to attach this from when I tried to reinstall the driver

 

Driver Booster 2 has a "Roll Back" feature for updated drivers. Try that first.

Also, your phone will show in Devices and Printers if it's paired with the PC, even when Bluetooth is turned off on your phone.

 

I reimaged the laptop to a point before I started with BT, fully expecting everything would return to normal, but it didn't. BT still doesn't appear in PC Settings or in Device Manager, and when I tried to update the driver from Lenovo I got the same error as in the pic in #4. Seems BT is 'unplugged', whatever that may mean as regards integrated devices.

However my phone still sees the laptop so something is working, if only partially. The laptop doesn't see the phone though. Frustrating.

 

If the Bluetooth device doesn't appear in Device Manager or Devices and Printers, something has gone wrong. After only the second use, it seems unusual but, not impossible. I don't think onboard/integrated Bluetooth can be repaired.

I use a USB Bluetooth transceiver (dongle) which cost the equivalent of £2.50.

BTW Your phone will continue to 'see' the laptop because they are paired, even if you physically destroy the latter.

 

Last night I restored an older image of a time when the laptop had Win 7 Pro and 8.1 in dual boot, just to see if it would work in 7. Bingo! Working in 7 and 8.1 after installing the latest Lenovo drivers.

In the last few days I had allowed Driver Booster 2 to update several of my 8.1 drivers, something I always advise others never to do, and it looks as if that lay behind these problems. Because I totally trust both Acronis and Macrium Reflect to get me out of stuck when necessary I always feel safe doing things I regard as risky, like using ANY Iobit software, and this has once again proved true.

I'm much relieved as it was starting to look like hardware.

Thanks for your thoughts on all this

 

Good for you! :dancer

I totally agree with you regards updating drivers as well as the BIOS. Most experts agree, only update the drivers and/or BIOS if:
1. Advised by an expert,
2. Prompted by Windows,
3. Prompted by the product.
And then, first make a backup.

That said, earlier a found DriveTheLife on MajorGeeks. Unlike the free version of Driver Booster, it does backup the drivers.

Have a look what at what MajorGeeks has to say.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/stor...nd_backup_your_drivers_with_drivethelife.html

Thanks go to Timothy Tibbetts.

 

That's normally me too but sometimes, knowing I can backtrack if necessary, I do like to take a chance, just to see what happens. This was one of those occasions

 

Sometimes, old is better. :-D

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."