I found this quaint sounding entry in Device Manager (among network adapters) with driver dated 2006. Recommended update online search found one update but with a red lettered warning that I should not install it. So I cancelled.
What is this device? And do I need it?
Its purpose is to create a mobile hotspot using your Wireless NIC. For example, you have a 4G/3G USB device that lets you get internet access or you have a LAN (Ethernet) connection and you want to share the internet from your USB stick or LAN by making your laptop as a portable hotspot. You use the "Wireless Hosted Network" feature built-in to Windows to configure the "Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter" to host a portable hotspot on your laptop. You then configure your 3G/4G connection to share the internet to "Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter"
Now any device can connect to your laptop (portable hotspot) and get internet access.
During a routine drivers updating using device manager venue (I do this once in a blue moon), I ran into two programs that automatic search(recommended)found drivers for but with red-lettered warning that driver source is not recognized and therefore safety is not guaranteed and recommendation is NOT to install it. On one (infrared receiver), I opted to install it anyway(twice) and failed each time. System refused to install it anyway.
The other is this virtual miniport WiFi adapter which also has update driver found from unrecognized provider that system recommends Not to install. This time I opted NOT to install. should I?
Could this network which seemingly is peculiar to W7 have any thing to do with my system's failure to find/install driver for my wireless headphone?
Don't install or update the Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter drivers. It's not actually a driver for a device but rather a feature (which is to make your laptop a portable hotspot) baked in to windows. If you're getting worried about that you can run command prompt as administrator and type this below:
That should get rid of the of WiFi miniport on the device manager.Code:netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode = disallow
I highly doubt that it's the miniport that causes your failure to install the drivers for your wireless headphone. I suggest to update your audio drivers as well as the Bluetooth drivers either from windows update or from your manufacturer of the audio card and Bluetooth NIC.
Instinctively, I already have disabled it in Dev Mgr, as I have no intention to allow anyone to use my PC for WiFi .(if that's what it is meant for).
As far as this W7 and peripheral BT device conundrum, I am kind of exhausted troubleshooting it. The SY-BT Headphone manufacturer's site has no driver for it but recommended another product's from another manufacturer. I found the driver online from third party site(drivers installer) and all I got trying to download the driver were unwanted sites installation and two not-so-virulent viruses and a few infected files that MBAM trial version picked up and deleted automatically.(which btw MSE did not).
From the looks of it, none from multiple blogs online of identical W7/BT device issue has been resolved.
I am glad to announce I've solved my problem with SY-BT headphone. Now it's working well...just like it did with Vista. It was never W7 or anything else but a simple matter of updating the Bluetooth drivers.
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