How to find a Bluetooth/USB Dongle with Realtek Chip?

mb91

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I am utterly unable to upgrade my home-built desktop running 64-bit Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 due to the known issue with Realtek Bluetooth drivers described here: Updating to a new version of Windows 10 on devices with some driver versions for Realtek Bluetooth radios

BUT The solution Microsoft provides ONLY works if:

(1) You already have Windows 10 installed and working, and

(2) You already have a Realtek Bluetooth driver installed.

But neither of these are true for me!

Since mine is a home-built desktop (based on the ASUS Z87-A mobo), I obviously cannot contact the computer manufacturer, and ASUS does not provide any Bluetooth drivers. A Microsoft Advisor suggested buying a Bluetooth/USB dongle based on a Realtek chip, installing it and the driver, then uninstalling both, followed by trying to upgrade again.

But try as I might, I cannot find any dongles that specify which chip or manufacturer they're based on. So how do I find one? NewEgg.com (and to a lesser extent Amazon) provide specifications, but none of them I've searched for list the embedded chip being used.

Most of these dongles have the name "CSR" attached somewhere. Does anyone know which, if any, chips these CSR dongles use?

Alternatively, is there some other solution I might try?
 
I'm confused for two reasons.

1) This is a dongle. If it's a dongle, then just uninstall+unplug it, do the Windows upgrade, then plug it back in and install the appropriate drivers.

2) Alternatively, this only seems to affect folks during the Windows 10 *upgrade* process; you're free to do a fresh install of Windows 10 without encountering the issue. Fresh installs are generally recommended anyways because they are less of a mess in the end.
 
Thank you, sinisterDei, for your reply!

I'm confused for two reasons.

1) This is a dongle. If it's a dongle, then just uninstall+unplug it, do the Windows upgrade, then plug it back in and install the appropriate drivers.

See, the thing is, it is absolutely necessary to have a Realtek Bluetooth driver installed so that the Microsoft work-around can work. I've found several such drivers (mostly from station-drivers), and spent a lot of time trying to install any of them. But these attempts always fail because you can't install them without a Realtek Bluetooth device connected. I've tried playing with the installation files, but I just can't do it. Therefore, it would be imperative to actually find and purchase a Bluetooth dongle made with a Realtek chip. Any other dongle simply cannot work. Note I said it "would be" necessary -- see below for an explanation...

2) Alternatively, this only seems to affect folks during the Windows 10 *upgrade* process; you're free to do a fresh install of Windows 10 without encountering the issue. Fresh installs are generally recommended anyways because they are less of a mess in the end.

Your second point is certainly correct: A fresh install would not have this problem. However, even after uninstalling about 30 less important applications, I still have at least 60 (probably more like 75) applications currently installed, with all their data and settings. I own a tool that can backup various applications' data and settings so that they can be restored after a fresh OS install, but it doesn't include support for approximately 50 that I need (I'm a programmer using unusual tools and so have lots of rare software installed). I've done a fresh Windows install on other machines with many fewer applications installed, and it still took me a month or so to re-install what had been installed. In fact, a year later, that process is still ongoing.

So I must reject a fresh install. Fortunately, help is in the queue...

I called Microsoft support and explained that I was trying to upgrade Win 7 to Win 10 and the Realtek Bluetooth bug I kept running into. The first person that answered was a moron whose only reply was "Windows 7 support has ended". Duh! That's why I'm trying to upgrade!

The second person was not a moron, but still gave the same lame reply. But I kept on calling, hoping for an intelligent support person, which I thankfully got on the third call.

She confirmed that although most support for Win 7 had ended, Microsoft still fully supported attempts to upgrade from there to Win 10 -- as one would expect. She then connected remotely to the machine in question and examined my system. She noted the considerable amount of installed software, and remarked that she fully understood why I refused to perform a clean install.

She then tried to install Win 10 1909 starting with the media creation tool, and hit the Realtek bug at issue. Then she scoured all installed devices and drivers, including hidden ones, and exclaimed: "But you don't even have any Bluetooth hardware or drivers installed! How can you be getting this message?"

To end this too-long reply, she escalated my case and set up an appointment with a senior support agent in a few days time. I'll report back on what happens.

Thanks again!
 
Good luck!

If you still don't make it anywhere, give me a buzz back to try the first option I mentioned. I can help you purge the existing drivers from your system after you unplug the dongle, going beyond simply checking the box to 'remove the drivers' when you delete the thing from device manager. If you can manage to actually remove the existing drivers and hardware from the system, the upgrade process will have no reason to stop you and once you're on 10 then you can do an upgrade.
 
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