No internet after Windows10 update and restore to win7

As I'm sure you're aware, IPConfig isn't showing an installed LAN adapter.

Does Device Manager show a network adapter?    If not, scan for hardware changes.

Does Control Panel - Network Connections show a local area connection?    If so, check the properties -- it likely needs a protocol installed.

Try this in an elevated command prompt (run CMD as administrator)

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ipv4 reset

netsh int ipv6 reset

then reboot the machine and test if networking is available.

Gary yes the lan adapter shows as you can see

i remember seeing a device in error Teredo tunneling - but i removed it from the DM (thinking the drivers would put it back)

andreas, sorry i tried these commands also
Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

 Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

i even uninstalled the realtek lan, rebooted, and it was properly reinstalled - but that did not change the output of the ipconfig /all command

John - those have been verified, nothing unusual there; if you like i can post the screenshot
Masq - nothing changed, since the lan is not seen

Here are the Adapter Settings on my machine (Wi-Fi, not wired, Windows 10 not Windows 7) but these are relatively constant over NIC's and OS types.



Under Properties, make certain TCP/IP Properties are bland default for DHCP, DNS, Metric and so on. No entries, just default. Restart if you change any of these.

they are zero'ed and set to automatic

Gary - i doid not try that - but is uninstalling the device + rebooting not the same?
anyway - i'll try it tomorrow; i'm going to play 3-cushion this evening, so no more time left

"... is uninstalling the device + rebooting not the same? " ==>  No, that reinstalls the hardware; but doesn't have any bearing on the network connection details.    It looks like the hardware is all "known" to the system ... but there's no connection established.

Just a slightly lateral approach - can you try running this installer rather than the HP SoftPak?
http://12244.wpc.azureedge.net/8012244/drivers/rtdrivers/cn/nic/0017-Install_Win7_7098_03312016.zip
(this is a direct download from Realtek's site)

Masq - that has also been tried before, sorry
Gary - i tried that - but it wants the internet provider password
can i make one without password?

Given all that has been done:

1. Does the user have a Windows 7 backup that could be use to rebuild the system?  It may be the fastest way.
2. Did you or the user boot from a bootable CD to determine if the network card is good?

when i made a new network connection, it errored out with code 6

John
1- i know that - i'm just looking if it is possible
2- no i installed a new windows 7 on a spare drive to test- worked immediately correct

So given number 2, it would appear that the rollback failed.

Masq, for all i know (and that is not too much - the hardware is fine; it's  the OS that does not make the link to it - your link to FSS will be tested

Clearly the hardware's fine ... the test install on a new disk confirmed that.    And it's equally clear that the rollback "broke it" ... since it worked okay before and even with Windows 10.    It'll be interesting if FSS resolves this -- that generally indicates there was a virus that broke the network connections; but it seems like a very unlikely coincidence that this was infected at the same time as the rollback.

However, strange things can (and do) happen :-)

But it's looking more and more like reinstall time.

Just to be clear I'm not suggesting FSS because I think the machine is/was infected.  

I want to see if its built-in scanning & repair tools can spot where the NIC card is failing to interface with Windows.

It's the same principle though:
- A layer/stack broken because of an infected file being removed during clean up vs. the Win 10 > 7 downgrade breaking the same kind of things.

Gary - you are saying exactly what i am thinking
i scanned the drive on another system for virus, and there were a couple of trojans
i also ran chkdsk on it, and it also fixed a free space problem
i'm going to run FSS now and keep you all posted
unnecessary to say that i appreciate all your input  for this very much

i know that reinstall is coming up - but by looking for the cause, i Always learn useful things and bits

here the result of FSS

any comments?
FSS.txt

Nothing useful in the FSS log => it tells you there's no network connection available, which clearly we all know at this point :-)

i also tried uninstalling/reinstalling IE11, and creating a new account
no progress with these...
i would like to know what software parts make the connection between windos OS and the driver

unless somebody posts another idea - i'll start the reinstall from the partition

I would like to know what software parts make the connection between windows OS and the driver

All of the parts we can influence are in the driver (update / reinstall), the driver setup (parameters), the TCP/IP stack (reset), and perhaps things that SFC can fix / reset.

Undoubtedly there are programs and DLL's under the covers that we cannot influence.

and it looks that those are the parts i need...

Probably, but we cannot set the parameters of basic Windows code.

FSS shows the TCPIP layer is missing

For a Win 7 64bit SP1 install you should see
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tdx.sys
[2015-12-12 18:20] - [2015-10-13 17:40] - 0118272 ____A (Microsoft Corporation) AA77EB517D2F07A947294F260E3ACA83

C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\tcpip.sys
[2015-12-12 18:23] - [2014-04-05 03:47] - 1903552 ____A (Microsoft Corporation) 04ADD18EE5CC9FBEDAEC1DD1CD0CB45E

Listed under file check

Masq, i see these files as diditally  signed in the report
could i copy these from a working system, or from somewhere else?  eg the new windows install on the spare drive?

Gary thanks for the continued suggestions
answers
 1- too late, i have done the restore from the partition already, but tx anyway
2-yes
3-no - did not think about it

thank you all
i learned again things - even if it did not turn out the way i liked

You are most welcome and it was a pleasure to work with you.