New Acer Laptop - Network Adapter Issues suddenly up pops message saying hardware change detected.

Jerstep · November 2023

I have just received a new Acer laptop. Windows 11. It's for business so I started to install some software that I need, Visual Studio etc. All fine for an hour or so suddenly up pops message saying hardware change detected. Just a button saying OK or Close, can't remember which, either way nothing to do except click. Following that I can't connect to the internet. Checked Device Manager and it appears there are issues with all the network adapters, WiFi, Ethernet. Decided to reinstall Windows, but the same thing happened again. All fine for a hour or so then "hardware change detected". Drivers for the network adapters cannot be loaded as previous version is still in memory.

Anyone have any ideas? I've tried resetting the network adapters but that made no difference. Seems my only option is to reinstall Windows again and somehow prevent auto changes to the network adapters. Don't want to to prevent detection of all hardware changed though. How would I do that?

Or is this something that means I should send back the machine to Acer? It was only delivered yesterday.

Thanks for any advice.

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title and add issue detail]

Alejandro_AC · November 2023

Hi @Jerstep I would first perform a factory reset:

How to Factory Reset Windows - Acer Community

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/14751-como-redefinir-o-windows-de-fabrica

You may want to factory reset your computer if you are experiencing performance issues, viruses or malware, or if you want to set it up for a new user. Acer computers allow you to restore the system to factory settings without recovery disks or media. You can use the instructions for your specific operating system below to…

I understand that there was no hardware change, only software installation.

If the problem continues, contact the equipment seller.

All the best.

Jerstep · November 2023

I think I have found the issue. After multiple clean installs of Windows 11, I think the issue is the installation of Citrix Receiver. Not had an issue with this before however, with this laptop it appears to cause serious issues. Installation is successful and I can use the software to connect to work Citrix machines, however, following a reboot, all network adapters and USB ports are rendering unusable. Even uninstalling Citrix Receiver didn't help. Version of software is 14.12.0.18020 in case this helps anyone reading this. Ending up installing Citrix Workspace App instead. This works and following multiple reboots and installation of other software, Visual Studio etc. all is still working. Hopefully, this will continue.