Where has my bluetooth gone?

[oggy777]

Hi, i restored my computer to the factory settings using the supplied disc and now the bluetooth has gone. it dosnt even show up in the hardwear in control panel. Any ideas?

[KevSparky]

I presume you're talking about Device Manager in the System > Hardware tab. If it's connected to your computer, even if it doesn't work at all, it'll be listed there.

I presume you don't have the driver CD for the bluetooth. You'll need to know the make or model of the bluetooth module to install it again. Do this by looking for any stickers on your laptop/desktop machine. They may say it. Otherwise you can pull up the original specs of the laptop, wither from where you ordered it or on the manufacturers website. Then find the make and model on that. Failing all of that, crack open your computer, look for something that looks like an expansion card and google all the serial numbers if it doesn't have a manufacturer name or model on it.

If you some how manage to find the manufacturer, goto their website and download the drivers.

If none of the above works, you may be able to retrieve the bluetooth module MAC address, either by checking other devices that are paired with it or looking for it on the module. it'll look like A1:47:B5:9E:0B:34, 6 groups of 2 hex characters. Hex characters are any number 0-9 or any letter a-f. The first three groups, i.e. A1:47:B5 above is unique to the manufacturer of the part and you can find the manufacturer here: http://www.coffer.com/mac_find/