Intel Wifi AC 9260 driver fir Win7 x32 x64

[Sieben7]

I just wanted to ask if you found a solution? I'm planning to buy a laptop with an AC 9462 module. As I want to run Windows 7, it would be great to have a working driver or another alternative. It looks like this adapter is a M.2 CNVio card. Apparently, replacing only works with other CNVio cards, which are all not compatible to Windows 7.

 

[johnhoh]

I am unaware of a solution here other than to replace the card with a win7 compatible one, but if you are getting a machine with CNVi that means your processor will be CNVi (as well as your wireless card - they go together) which means your M.2 slot won't work without a CNVi wireless card. Its possible if the machine has a mini-pcie slot you could use an AC8265 mini-pcie card (which is of course non-CNVi), but even then I am not sure if a CNVi processor is able to use a non-CNVi wireless card even if its pcie as opposed to M.2. And since CNVi is for coffee-lake and later processors, I do not believe you will be able to use the processors' integrated graphics on win7 as well.

 

[Stefan1971HH]

Has anyone succeeded instaling the 9260 under Win 7? I tried till post #12 (thanks, johnhoh, for your effort)
but wasn't lucky. I sometimes got the message that the driver has been installed, but ended up with yellow
exclamation mark in the device manager and an unusable AC 9260. Any more ideas?

 

[johnhoh]

Has anyone succeeded instaling the 9260 under Win 7? I tried till post #12 (thanks, johnhoh, for your effort)
but wasn't lucky. I sometimes got the message that the driver has been installed, but ended up with yellow
exclamation mark in the device manager and an unusable AC 9260. Any more ideas?

Can you post the PCI/VEN number for your device?

Control panel > device manager > right click on adapter > properties > details > hardware Ids > right click on first line > copy

Will look something like this: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24FD&SUBSYS_10108086&REV_78

 

[Grisu]

Jumping in in the meantime:
Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9260: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2526&SUBSYS_00148086&REV_29

 

[Stefan1971HH]

can you post the pci/ven number for your device?

pci\ven_8086&dev_2526&subsys_00148086

 

[johnhoh]

The is a re-do of what I outlined in the earlier post #12 but is more thorough and uses an earlier
version of the driver package.

download an early version of the 9260 driver here (later versions are more likely to contain
win10-only features that are incompatible with win7)

Download Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for IT Admins

choose the zip version of the win7x64 package. Open the netsws04.inf file. We are going to
modify and save it (four different times, explained below). About 6 or 8 pages down, anywhere
in the Device WIN7_64, section, add a line for your pci/ven number. This assures that when you
run the install package your 9260 will be seen as a valid device for win7 installation. The
line you want to add should look like this:

%NIC_9260AC_2x2_HMC% = Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC , PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2526&SUBSYS_00148086 ; AC

the above line was taken from the netsws06.inf file in the win10 package, btw.

Next you need to add installation instructions to that same netsws04 file that are specifically
for the 9260. We will call that section Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC.
But what goes in it?

We start by taking a known win7 compatible device like the 8265 and seeing how w10 installs
it differently than win7, which are sections 1 and 2 down below. You can see that the difference
is that win10 adds a registry key called Reg_IHV_Router that is not present in win7. Also win7
uses a different "feature score". Therefore in order to install the 9260 to win7, we will not
be using the Reg_IHV_Router line or its win10 feature score. Also the win7 section has a registry
key called Reg_NDI_BTHS. We may or may not need this for win7 so we'll have to try it with and without.

Then we look at how win10 installs a 8265 differently from the 9260, which are sections 2 and 3 down
below. We see the difference is the 9260 has registry keys called Reg_THP and Reg_NDI_THP while the
8265 does not, and the 8265 has registry keys Reg_WSP and Reg_NDI_WSP while the 9260 does not.
Without knowing exactly what these keys do, we should try all means four combinations, designated
as 4a through 4d down below.

So add a section to the INSTALL WIN7_64 installation area of netsws04 by copying and pasting 4a below,
then save netsws04, then install. If it does not work do the same thing again but this time using
4b below. And so on until you get to 4d. With luck, one of the 4 sections will work. Hopefully
I don't have any typos, and hopefully all this will fit in one post.

------------------------------------------------------------
;1 - install 8265 in win7 (taken from win7/netsws04)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFF
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WIN7_64, Reg_8265_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WIN7_64, Reg_WSP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_WSP, Reg_NDI_AC, Reg_NDI_BTHS
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WIN7_64
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = NETwNs64, 2, NIC_Service_WIN7_64, Common_EventLog_WIN7_64
---------------------------------
;2 - install 8265 in win10 (taken from win10/netsws06)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFC
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WINT_64, Reg_IHV_Router, Reg_8265_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WINT_64, Reg_WSP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_WSP, Reg_NDI_AC
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WINT_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM2_8265_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WINT_64, Common_EventLog_WINT_64
--------------------------------
;3 - install 9260 in win10 (taken from win10/netsws06)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFC
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WINT_64, Reg_IHV_Router, Reg_9260_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WINT_64, Reg_THP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_THP, Reg_NDI_AC
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WINT_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WINT_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WINT_64, Common_EventLog_WINT_64

------------------------------------------
;4a - install 9260 in win7 (deduced from the first three cases, uses THP and no BTHS)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFF
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WIN7_64, Reg_9260_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WIN7_64, Reg_THP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_THP, Reg_NDI_AC
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WIN7_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WIN7_64, Common_EventLog_WIN7_64
----------------------------------------
;4b - install 9260 in win7 (deduced from the first three cases, uses WSP and no BTHS)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFF
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WIN7_64, Reg_9260_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WIN7_64, Reg_WSP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_WSP, Reg_NDI_AC
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WIN7_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WIN7_64, Common_EventLog_WIN7_64
-----------------------------------
;4c - install 9260 in win7 (deduced from the first three cases, uses THP and BTHS)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFF
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WIN7_64, Reg_9260_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WIN7_64, Reg_THP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_THP, Reg_NDI_AC, Reg_NDI_BTHS
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WIN7_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WIN7_64, Common_EventLog_WIN7_64
----------------------------------------
;4d - install 9260 in win7 (deduced from the first three cases, uses WSP and BTHS)

[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC]
FeatureScore = 0xFF
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.CopyFiles
DelReg = DelReg_Common
AddReg = Reg_Common, Reg_Common_WIN7_64, Reg_9260_AC_2x2_HMC, Reg_NDIS_WIN7_64, Reg_WSP, Reg_NDI, Reg_NDI_WSP, Reg_NDI_AC, Reg_NDI_BTHS
Characteristics = 0x84; NCF_HAS_UI, NCF_PHYSICAL
BusType = 5; PCI bus
CopyFiles = CopyFiles_Driver_WIN7_64, CopyFiles_IHV_Router
*IfType = 71 ; IF_TYPE_IEEE80211
*MediaType = 16 ; NdisMediumNative802_11
*PhysicalMediaType = 9 ; NdisPhysicalMediumNative802_11
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.HW]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.PnPFilterRegistration.HW
AddReg = MSI_NDIS.reg
[Install_MPCIEX_GENM22_9260_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC.Services]
Include = netvwifibus.inf
Needs = VWiFiBus.Services
AddService = Netwtw06, 2, NIC_Service_WIN7_64, Common_EventLog_WIN7_64

 

[Stefan1971HH]

Hello johnhoh, thanks for your effort, but it still doesn't work.
Right click on the modified inf file always triggers a message,
that this way of installation is not supported by the chosen inf file.

 

[johnhoh]

try clicking on the DPinst64 executable file

if that does not work, try start > run > devmgmt.msc > network > right click on 9260 adapter > update driver software > browse my computer for driver software > let me pick from a list > have disk > browse to the inf you modified

 

[Sieben7]

I'm really curious. I just don't want to buy a device where WiFi doesn't work, otherwise I would try it myself. By the way: The laptop I wanted to buy is a MSI GL63 8RD (or something similar) which has the option to enable CSM and has a dedicated graphics card so I don't need the UHD graphics to work. Only thing making trouble is the WiFi (I had this laptop from a friend for one day).


Thanks for your effort johnhoh! I hope Stefan1971HH has a positive feedback for us.

 

[Stefan1971HH]

I have to wait for delivery of new computer case. I guess by end of the week I can test and report.
I have forgotten to mention that my wlan adapter is integrated in the mainboard.
But I guess this doesn't make a difference compared to a separate adapter with regards to drivers...?

 

[ralphy77]

Hi,

for what is worth, I tried everything and couldn't make it work on W7, and as there where other potential drivers' issues (Intel chipsets with no W7 drivers...), I decided to go for W10 (I spent about 20 hours removing/disabling all bloat/spyware...)

 

[johnhoh]

Hi,

for what is worth, I tried everything and couldn't make it work on W7, and as there where other potential drivers' issues (Intel chipsets with no W7 drivers...), I decided to go for W10 (I spent about 20 hours removing/disabling all bloat/spyware...)

Thanks for reporting back, as your feedback will be appreciated by others who find this thread later.

So in conclusion my recommendation for those wanting to get a 9xxx wifi card working under win7 is to replace the 9xxx card with an identically pinned 8xxx wifi card.

 

[Stefan1971HH]

PC is assembled just now. Sorry for the delay. Will test recent tip and report tomorow.

 

[Stefan1971HH]

The results of trying to install by browsing to the in file from the device manager:
With 4a installation failed.
With 4b interestingly it was displayed as installed as Ac 3260 but didn't work.
Then Win7 did't let me unsinstall or update this so I couldn't try 4c and 4d.
So no success but thanks again to johnhoh

 

[johnhoh]

if windows will not let you remove the driver, try these methods...

1) remove from the Add/Remove Programs window first (if present), and then from control panel
start > run > appwiz.cpl
start > run > devmgmt.msc

2) boot to safe mode and remove from control panel
start > run > devmgmt.msc

3) force removal from command line

find the device in control panel, then right-click and select Properties, then select Details, then find INF Name in the drop-down list

Once you have the INF Name type in this command in a command window opened with Admin privileges

start > run > cmd > pnputil.exe -f -d INFName.inf

and press enter

 

[hakujin]

Major bummer this card doesn't work with anything but 10. Any progress on a workable solution, 4c or 4d? Seems like I've never had any luck with m.2 in this rig. -win81

 

[Lowkhee]

For some reason the web page disappeared and I had to rewrite everything.
I've been working on this for a time. My best attempt was to first force install the wirus 10 driver on 7. Then I actually installed the device in winpe 10, with no issues. All file changes had been noted and the file structure copied. Also, all changes to the registry had been noted and a reg update file created.

The file structure was copied to 7 and the registry updated. Winpe has a slightly different registry structure, so some guess work had to be attempted. An actual wirus 10 install would be helpful. In the end, the device installed with all the correct properties with no issues beyond a code 10 (can't start device).

Given I have an OEM intel 7265 (win7 ready), which installs with a code 10, I am left to believe the actual binary driver has an OS check (OEM check also). Hence, a crack will most likely be required to bypass and start the device, which is not as hard as it sounds (just time consuming patience).

Damn, my top is smoking with disgust. How do you all stummick what is happening? Soon, keyboards will become a key-board, and pressing it will produce a pile of hay.

 

[dziugas1959]

i managed, to get the thing beyond the Invalid INF, now iam stuck at impossible to launch the device, where should i look for exactly to fix that?
%NIC_9560AC_2x2_HMC% = Install_MPCIEX_DELLM2CRF3_9560_AC_2x2_HMC_WIN7_64_AC , PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A370&SUBSYS_40308086 ; AC

 

[cherwally]

Just an idea... has anyone tried to roll a very minimal Windows 10
inside a virtual machine and install the 9260 WiFi driver like that?
Will this have any chance to work on a Win 7 64 based PC ?