Microsoft blocked some devices equipped with Qualcomm WiFi to upgrade Windows 10 v1909 due to compatibility issues

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According to Microsoft’s support announcement, the company has now blocked some PCs with Qualcomm wireless network card devices from upgrading Windows 10 Version 1909. This problem is mainly caused by the incompatibility of the wireless network card drivers used by some users. After upgrading Windows 10 Version 1909, the wireless network may not be able to connect properly. Therefore, Microsoft directly prevents users from upgrading. Unless the NIC driver problem is solved first, the easiest way to solve this problem is to upgrade the NIC driver directly.

Microsoft said it has blocked users from upgrading through the Windows 10 Update Assistant, the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, and the Windows 10 Installer. When users try to upgrade using these tools, they will see the following prompt: Your computer driver does not fully support this version, and a new version is available.

The user clicks on the more information below the prompt to jump to the Microsoft support announcement page, and the user can follow the Microsoft solution to solve the driver problem. Workarounds include downloading a new version of the driver directly through the system update feature or manually updating the package through the device manager.

It is recommended that the user check the new version of the driver directly through the system update function. If the update is checked, the Qualcomm NIC driver can be found. After installing the new version of the driver, it is recommended to restart the system and then perform the upgrade again in various ways.

If you are not offered the driver from Windows Update, we recommend you try the following steps:

  1. Select Start or the search box in the task bar.
  2. type “device manager” and open Device Manager.
  3. Within Device Manager, find Network adapters and expand it to see all the currently installed adapters.
  4. Right-click or long press on the Qualcomm adapter and select Update driver.
  5. Select Search automatically for updated drivers on the dialog that opens.
  6. Wait for it to complete the task.  If it says, “The best driver for your device are already installed.” then the driver was not updated.  If the driver was updated, you should now be able to Check for Updates and install the newer version of Windows 10.

If you are not offered drivers for your affected Qualcomm Wi-fi adapter using either method above, you can follow the steps below to install an updated Wi-Fi driver:

  1. Download the Qualcomm Wi-fi adapter drivers to your preferred folder: Driver  Note We recommend downloading them to your Documents folder.
  2. Open File Explorer. If there is no file explorer icon in the task bar, select the search box and enter file explorer and select it.
  3. Within File Explorer, go the Documents folder or the folder you downloaded the drivers to.
  4. Find and double click or double tap on the file named qcamainext10x-4-0-3-262-msx64_19fcb71525109fd2831d5a40944ded5663ec6af1.cab
  5. Select CTRL+a on the keyboard. This should select all of the files.
  6. Right click or long press on any of the files.
  7. A warning dialog might open with the text, “Windows Security: Opening these files might be harmful to your computer. Your internet security settings blocked one or more files from being opened. Do you want to open these files anyway?”  If you see this warning, select the OK button.
  8. Select Extract from the right-click menu.
  9. Select the New folder button and rename it Qualcomm Wi-fi driver.
  10. Select the Extract button.
  11. In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager.
  12. Find Network adapters and expand it.
  13. Find the device with Qualcomm Wireless Network Adapter or Killer Wireless Network Adapter in the name and right-click or long press on it.
  14. Select Update Driver from the context menu.
  15. Select the Browse my computer for driver software button.
  16. It should default to your Documents folder, if this is where you saved the drivers then just select the Next button.  If you did not save the drivers to your Documents folder, select the Browse button and find the folder you downloaded the drivers to and select OK.
  17. It should now find the updated drivers and install them.  Wait for this to complete and select Close.

After you have updated your Qualcomm Wi-Fi adapter drivers, the safeguard hold should be removed and you should be able to install the newer version of Windows 10.

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