Network

Fixed: Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter Missing or Could’t Be Started

The Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter may miss from your computer when your PC update to Windows 10 or some unknown errors occur to your PC. Then you will be unable to share your device’s internet to the others, and it may be quite inconvenient for you.

Maybe you cannot find Microsoft Network Virtual Adapter in Device Manager, or it says “The hosted network couldn’t be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation” in Command Prompt. So how should you deal with this kind of problem? There are several solutions with detailed steps.

Solutions:

Solution 1: Turn on WIFI Function and Turn Off Airplane Mode

you need to make sure the wireless network of your computer is connected properly. So be sure Wi-Fi is turned on and Airplane Mode is turned off in Settings.

1. Click Start Menu > Settings > Network & Internet to open the network settings.

2. In WiFi Window, turn on the WIFI function.

turn on wifi

3. In airplane mode, turn off this function.

turn off airplane mode

Now you can go ahead to next solutions.

Related: Windows 10 Stuck in Airplane Mode

Solution 2: Disable and re-enable Wi-Fi

If your Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter is missing in Device Manager, try this way first, for it can enable the wireless connection.

1. Right click Start Menu and choose Network Connections.

2.Locate Wi-Fi and then right click it. Choose Disable.

disable wifi

3. After a while, right click it again and Enable it.

enable wifi

After you enable it, the virtual adapter will appear and shows as a local area connections. And you could start to run the Microsoft Hosted Netowrk Virtual Adapter again.

If you still have the problem, try solution 3.

Related: We Can’t Set up WIFI Hotspot on Windows 10

Solution 3: Enable Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter Driver

One reason for the missing of Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter Driver is that it is disabled, so you cannot find it in Device Manager. Try to enable it to fix this problem.

1. Go Device Manager by right clicking Start Menu.

2. Select View in the top menu and choose Show hidden devices.

show all hidden devices

3. Expand Network Adapters. Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter should appear in the list.

microsoft hosted network virtual adapter

4. If you can see it in the list, right click it and choose Enable Device.

enable device

Then Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter can be used.

If it still does not show even you have chosen Show hidden devices, you need to use the following solutions.

Solution 4: Change Wireless Adapter Drivers’ Properties

There are two properties you can change to solve this problem. One is Power Management, and the other is to enable HT Mode. You can change the former one first. Here are steps.

1. Go to Device Manager>Network Adapters.

2. Then locate your wireless adapter, right click it and choose Properties.

3. Select Power Management tab, and check “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power“. And click OK.

wireless power management

Assuming that you have checked, but the problem remains, you can change the second property. And here is the solution if allow computer to turn off this device to save power grayed out.

4. Select Advanced tab in Properties of the wireless adapter. Then choose HT Mode in Property and HT Mode or VHT Mode in Value. Then click OK.

enable ht mode

After that, you can go to command prompt to see if the hosted network couldn’t be started problem is fixed.

Solution 5: Update Your Wireless Adapter Driver

Sometimes this problem happens because you haven’t updated your wireless adapter driver while the new version is available. In this case, your driver needs to be updated.

As to updating wireless adapter driver, there are two methods you can choose from.

Download and Update Wireless Adapter Driver by Device Manager

This is a common way to update your drivers, and you can follow these steps.

1. Right click Start Menu and choose Device Manager.

2. Expand Network Adapters and choose the wireless adapter driver you want to update. Then right click it and select Update driver.

update driver in device manager

3. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

search automatically small

Next, your computer will search and install a wireless adapter driver of new version for you automatically.

Download and update Through Driver Booster

By this method, you need Driver Booster, a professional driver download utility tool. Driver Booster is also the top 1 driver update software. With this program, you can find all the missing, outdated drivers one time, and update them automatically.

Before using it, you should get it from here: download Driver Booster.

1. Run Driver Booster and click Scan.

driver booster scan now

Then it will tell you how many drivers need to be updated.

2. Choose Network adapters and select Update.

driver booster update network driver

You can also choose Update Now so that you can download and update all the drivers.

Related: Windows Sockets Registry Entries Required for Network Connectivity are Missing

Solution 6: Roll Back Wireless Adapter Driver

Sometimes it happens just after you had the driver updated. Maybe there are some issues with the latest version driver, so you can roll back the wireless adapter driver to a previous version manually. Do as the following:

Go to Device Manager > Network Adapters > wireless adapter > Properties > Driver. You will find Roll Back Driver option. Click this bottom and it will restore the driver to the former version.

If Roll Back Driver option is gray-out, it may be because your computer has no previous driver installed for wireless adapter or your computer didn’t retain the driver files from the original version.

Okay, after you update the wireless driver or roll back it, your Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter should appear again.

Solution 7: Check If the Wireless Adapter Supports Hosted Networks

In some cases, your wireless adapter may not have the support for hosted network, which can cause this problem. If you don’t know whether the adapter supports hosted network, do the following:

1. Type cmd in the search box, and right click Command Prompt. Select run as administrator.

2. Enter netsh wlan show driver | findstr Hosted and press Enter.

netsh wlan show driver

3. Look for Hosted network supported option.

If it says Yes, it is OK.

If it says No, it means that your wireless adapter doesn’t support this feature.

Up to here, the five solutions are all given above. Supposed you have this problem to have your Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter missed and to restart the hosted network, you can use them to fix your problem.

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Jane He
Jane is a tech-writer and content writer with an endless passion for exploring computer problems and technologies. She loves solving problems and helping others with challenges in dealing with technical problems. Hence, she has been writing articles for Tencomputer.com to provide technical support and suggestions for people.

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