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[SOLVED] Cannot access bluetooth settings

Question

Monday, February 20, 2017 6:45 PM

My neighbor is running Windows 10 Home on a Dell Inspiron laptop bought at Best Buy. He bought a nice bluetooth speaker for it and asked me to get it connected for him. I cannot turn on bluetooth or pair any devices because when bluetooth settings is selected from the settings menu, the window immediately closes and drops me back to the desktop. This happens no matter how I try to access the bluetooth settings. Device manager says all bluetooth components are working properly. I'm thinking that one of the files for the bluetooth settings is corrupt or missing but don't know where to begin  looking. I'm not particularly proficient with Windows 10 and would sincerely appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.  - Tom

All replies (9)

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 3:06 AM

You may uninstall and reinstall the Bluetooth device via Device Manager.

Check Device Manager to make sure you have the latest Bluetooth drivers installed.

In the search box on the taskbar, type Device Manager, select it from the list of results, and then expand Bluetooth in Device Manager.
Press and hold (or right-click) the Bluetooth radio, then select Update Driver Software > Search automatically for updated driver software.

If Windows doesn't find a new driver, look for one on the device manufacturer's website and follow their instructions.

S.Sengupta, Windows Insider MVP

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 3:26 AM

Thank you for your advice. I will try what you suggest when I see him tomorrow and then report the results back here. Thanks again for your prompt response.   - Tom

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 6:41 AM

There is an official support documentation can give you a hint, please have a look.

Fix Bluetooth problems in Windows 10: FAQ

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14169/windows-10-fix-bluetooth-problems

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2017 7:37 PM

Hello S. Segupta,

  Uninstall then reinstalled bluetooth radio device from Device Manager - still same problem when trying to access bluetooth settings. It just closes the window immediately and drops me back to the desktop.

Let Windows search for an updated bluetooth driver. Result: currently installed driver was up to date.

Downloaded latest bluetooth driver from device manufacturer's website and it was a major update from v17.x.x.x to v19.x.x.x but same problem accessing bluetooth settings still persists.

I see that I have another reply to look into but if you have any additional advice, please feel free to post. As always, you input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again  -  Tom

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 7:43 PM

Thank you [email protected]. I will read the FAQ in its entirety looking for answers that are pertinent to my specific issue and will report the results back here, marking them as answers if they successfully address and resolve the issue at hand. Thanks for the link. Looking forward to reading this FAQ with baited breath.

Thanks for your input  - Tom

Wednesday, February 22, 2017 6:12 PM

Tnmff, the very first item in the bluetooth troubleshooting FAQ pertains to the exact problem that I an experiencing. However, the possible solutions that S. Segupta advised in the first reply are identical the the possible fixes  suggested in the FAQ and have not resolved the issue at all. Unless some kind soul can point me to some alternate possible solutions, then I am back to square one.

I'm thinking at this point to having hime purchase an aftermarket bluetooth dongle or some such, I can think of nothing else to do. At least it would be a cheap fix but really shouldn't be necessary.. I'll hang out a while longer to see if this happens but as we all know, it shouldn't be necessary but at least the issue would be alleviated.

If there are any takers, please feel free to provide some input here, otherwise it's off to the parts store. Thanks to both of you for you input in what would seem to be an east fix but has proved otherwise.  -  Sincerely  -  Tom

Thursday, February 23, 2017 3:50 PM

I found the culprit. In the Services Console the Device Association Service was set to 'Disabled'. Once I started the service, the bluetooth settings page displayed normally so I went ahead and set its startup type to 'Automatic'. Manual startup type might have worked as well but I didn't want to chance it.  -  Tom

Friday, February 24, 2017 1:05 AM

Dear Tom,

Sorry for late reply, I am honored to have the opportunity to assist you with Bluetooth problem.

Glad to hear that you have fixed problem by yourself, very well, enable Device Association Service is a good way, thanks for your sharing, I will introduce your experience to other forum users, I believe it can be helpful.

Please mark your reply to close this case.

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
If you have feedback for TechNet Subscriber Support, contact [email protected].

Friday, July 10, 2020 11:42 PM

Hello, this seems to be a pretty old thread, but it fits my situation very well. I tried doing all of the above, and that includes enabling Device Association Service, but I still can't open the bluetooth settings. Can you imagine any other solution to this issue?