Dell Inspiron 1525 with Windows 7 Ultimate, Bluetooth stopped working

Hello,

Just signed up here and hoping this is alright to make a new thread. I reviewed the READ HERE FIRST threads, but didn't see this type of topic. Apologies if I missed it.

Alright... I believe there was a Windows Update several months back which hosed my Bluetooth. I've had chats with Microsoft to no avail and extensive chat, phone calls and proxy with Dell Support. No one will tell me, nor admit WHY the Bluetooth stopped working. I've gone to WIDCOMM site and downloaded their Bluetooth Fix and it won't complete the RUN. I use the 32 Bit OS. I've looked at the obvious and dug deep within my computer to try and discover an error in compatibility, missing files, drivers and on and on and on....

Further, I've discovered this problem I'm experiencing is wide spread. Lot's of complaints, but no fixes I've found yet. I miss using my Bluetooth Mouse which came with the laptop and my wireless keyboard as well. There's no connecting to my wireless stereo speakers, no connecting to my cell phone and so on.

I did notice when I search for Devices, it shows nothing found and won't find anything either. When I shift back one tab on that screen titled: Devices and Printers, my Bluetooth Devices show up there, but still aren't working.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated..... Thanks for the read and thanks in advance for any help.

INFO: Windows 7 Ultimate - Service Pack 1 - Processor Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T5800 - 2.00 GHz 2.00 GHz - RAM 4.0 GB (3.49 useable) - 32 bit OS - Windows is Activated - Dell Wireless 355 module with Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Technology.

 

Better description I located: You click Start, and then you click Devices and Printers.
You click Add a device, and then you examine the list of devices that appear in the Select a device to add to this computer window.

In this scenario, you expect that the Bluetooth device is displayed in the list. However, the Bluetooth device is never displayed in this list.

Additionally, you may experience one of the following issues:

The Bluetooth Support Service cannot start after you restart the computer. Additionally, Bluetooth devices do not work correctly.
When you search for Bluetooth devices in Control Panel, the search operation may not finish. Additionally, you may notice that the progress bar seems to never finish and the pointer remains at an hourglass.

Note This PnP issue also occurs in Windows Server 2008 R2.

LINK FROM: Bluetooth devices do not work correctly on a computer that is running Windows 7

 

OF COURSE: The Fix isn't available? LOL

Then applying this Fix308817 may help you.

Visit KB980396 for details.

This issue occurs because of a problem in the PnP layer.