If you have an older HP computer, you may sometimes receive the following error when booting up:
Error message: 104-Unsupported wireless network device detected. The system is stopped. Remove the device and restart.
This is one of those really technical mistakes that is unfortunately not easy to fix. However, it is worth giving it a try before sending the computer back to HP or giving a lot of money to the computer team.
There are several steps you can take to try and fix this problem on HP laptops and notebooks. Note that there are only certain wireless cards that will work with your HP computer, so if you tried to install a third-party card, you may have to follow method 3 or get another wireless card. Good luck!
The first method – updating the BIOS
First, if you can handle the error and actually boot into the OS, then you should try downloading the latest BIOS. If the error persists, try booting your computer in Safe Mode and see if the OS boots.
You can also try to enter the installer and disable the wireless component on the laptop. Then try restarting your computer and see if you can work around the “unsupported wireless network device” error.
– /
In this case, go to the HP support site (http://www.hp.com/#Support
The second method – reset the BIOS
If that doesn’t work, try resetting your BIOS. To do this, you must restart your HP computer and then press the F10 key while the HP logo is displayed. Press a few times during bootup if you can’t log in right away.
Now go to the Exit menu and select Load Setup Defaults. Finally, select Exit and save changes.
After resetting the BIOS, you will need to perform an installation to restore the OS. This is a rather long guide, so I’ll direct you to my previous post on performing a clean install of Windows Please note that it will NOT delete your data or programs.
Third method – take out the WiFi card
If the above two methods didn’t work, then you screwed up. At this point, you really have no choice but to try to remove the WiFi card. If it’s external, it should be easy, but if it’s internal, you’ll have to google for instructions for your computer.
Some users have managed to remove the card and reinsert it. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to search Lenovo, Amazon, and eBay and try to find a working replacement for the wireless card.
If you have problems with any of the above methods, please leave a comment here and I’ll try to help! Enjoy!
–