Windows 8.1 BSOD: netwlv64.sys

Hi Rainer. I too have this same issue with my Dell Latitude D630...

Here is the underlying issue:

I have an Intel 4965AGN wireless card.

Microsoft lists this card as compatible for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 and claims that there will be no issues using it when one runs the Microsoft Windows 8.1 upgrade assistant downloaded directly from the Microsoft website.  Microsoft is the provider of the driver for both 8 and 8.1 which is the one I have and MS offers no newer driver than the one from 2010.

According to Intel, this device is no longer supported. As such, Intel does not provide drivers for this card for either Windows 8 or 8.1 and refers the user back to Microsoft for support.

Unfortunately, the driver that Microsoft has provided for use with Windows 8.1 is actually incompatible with Windows 8.1 and is causing the BSODs.

I found the cure: removed the Intel 4965AGN card and replaced it with a newer card that is supported directly by the vendor.

Had MS's upgrade assistant flagged this hardware item as being incompatible, I never, and I mean never, would have upgraded to 8.1 (Windows 8 worked perfectly - I never had an issue!)

I blame Microsoft for causing this issue and then passing the buck back over to Intel.

I tried many drivers and failed to reach stability. The most stable was an Intel w7 x64 driver in which our card was still supported, it made it for 2 or 3 days without a BSOD.

I'm now trying a Vista x64 driver from HP for my dinosaur 6910p laptop. I have disabled MSI and power saving. I will report back if this turns out to be the solution.

I have the same issue since updating to 8.1 with Intel 4965AGN. Random BSOD with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in netwlv64.sys.

****As a workaround i disabled the 802.11n-Mode. So far no more BSOD.

I brought the laptop to office once again. Juggling a bit with WiFi channels to less crouded ones (unfortunately got > 5 APs on all chanels (1, 3, 6, 9 and 12) but it seems to be a little better. Perhaps then it's just the card itself which handles crowded WiFi frequencies worse than others. Not sure if it's driver related but never had any issue on my business laptop and neither I had on my personal one running Windows 7.

So right now packet drop is down to normal level. I will keep an eye on it but likely release 12 drivers from Intel are most stable on Windows 8.1. Still Microsoft/Intel needs to fix the issue as also the requirement to disable power management is an issue.

I am still unhappy about Windows 8.1 but also due to other reasons:

• WiFi issue
• SkyDrive issues (not syncing, cluttering file system, breaking roaming profiles)
• Roaming profiles issues
• UAC screen delays
• Search/Index ignoring files

...

But hopefully this thread will help others running Windows 8.1 with Intel 4965agn to drive them into the right direction to find a stable driver setup at least.

Ping to the router is normal (1ms)

Ping to google or my isp isn't great (approx 90ms) but then my dslam is far from my home so this looks normal.

From my wired ethernet connextion, ping is 30ms lower.

It doesn't vary when resuming from standby or when on battery. The box to allow the computer to turn off the device to save power is unticked.

I'm going to tick it to see if it changes anything.

As far as I'm concerned this problem is solved (Dell Inspiron 1720 x64 - Win 8.1).

Well I am not sure for how long you did the test. Here at home my WiFi connection seems to drop/delay a couple of packages every couple of minutes. At work on busy WiFi it was actually impossible to get a stable connection for more than 30 seconds while my other laptop placed right next to it would just not drop any packet.

Sounds a bit strange that your wired connection is 30ms lower while wifi connection to router is 1ms or lower. The only explanation to this is the router forwarding packages delayed. Anyway, we are not here to debug internet connections, ISPs or routers.

So you also disabled the option to turn off the device to save power in device manager.

Well for what concerns the WiFi connection here at home it looks fine for me as well. But I have to find out why at work it's not working properly and dropping a lot of packages. I was playing with 802.11n mode to be enabled/disabled at no avail.

In any case the issue is not solved for me by using an outdated driver and disabling power management. It is solved when Microsoft fixes the kernel not to BSOD and/or Intel/Microsoft will release a fixed official driver which properly supports power management.