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.

Thanks for your feedback. So it looks like it's not only specific to a laptop brand but rather really faulty Windows kernel (or changed behavior).

Not everyone is willing (and capable) to replace a laptop WiFi card with some newer model. Depending on the built-in antenna setup and accessibility of card (not all devices can be opened easily) this might not be worth the effort for a laptop which is 3 years old. Not even to mention why to replace a perfectly working piece of hardware just because of this.

Anyway, perhaps this thread is a warning for people out there running similar setup. Be aware also that even some wired chips (e.g. my 82566MM GBE adapter) is affected from strange behavior like Windows 8/8.1 screen freezes if power management and MSI is enabled. Perhaps here the solution is to carry a bunch of WiFi and wired USB network cards with me in the hope the driver will not crash Windows kernel. Truly hilarious.

Here I am, after 3 days. I haven't had any BSOD.

Sadly, this is not a useful response, since that requires a rebuild of the computer.

I'm also seeing this and the driver is clearly now owned by MS, thus, we reasonably expect MS to fix it.

In my case, the problem seems to be related to reawakening post-sleep. I don't see this if I shut the computer down. Please don't respond with "then avoid putting your computer to sleep," since sleep is a critical feature for a laptop user.

All my crash dumps have been reported, so I know MS has to be collecting the DW data.

Did you replace the wireless card in a laptop?

Can you tell us what card you used? I have a Dell M1330, and I know that it is fairly trivial to remove the wireless card inside of it (I have done it before), but I do not have any idea what card I would replace it with, much less which one might be supported by Windows 8.1.

P.S. I agree, I only performed the upgrade because Microsoft's own upgrade assistant said that all hardware was compatible.