Solved How to rename/restore network adapter name ?

MultiDoc · Sunday at 5:05 PM

So I replaced my motherboards' onboard WiFi/BT card which was an Intel AX210 (WiFi 6E), for a Qualcomm NCM865 (WiFi 7). And now I realised that in Device Manager under Network Adapters the card appears with the adition of "#6" at the end of its name; the same also in Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections.

I know I can rename the connections etc but I would like to get rid of theat #6 on the actual cards/adapter name please. The same goes for Bluettoth that appears with #3 in the Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections.

Any ideas how to do this ?

For the record, I just rebuilt my system last night after my motherboard suddently died on me for no apparent reason 4 weeks ago. So I received the new motherboard (identical) and just replaced/swapped the onboard WiFi/BT card with the Qualcomm one before assembly of the system again. Did not reinstall Windows and the system just booted fine and ebverything is in order (running Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.3194.

Please see attached screenshots of what I mean and look forward to any advice and help how to best sort this please.

Rollback_Jockey · Sunday at 6:11 PM

That little nugget is hiding in an enum key in the registry, you've possibly updated it or had it update a few times and the OS will re-enumerate it and add a new entry. Personally i always search the registry for the adaptor name and look for the #6 entry and rename it there.

Win7ine · Sunday at 6:54 PM

Uninstall Device in Devices (Wifi adapter and BT adapter) manager inclusive of removing driver, then remove all remaining (inactive) drivers in the Bluetooth and Network adapters section utilising "Driver Store Explorer", reboot and Windows will re-enumerate your hardware.

MultiDoc · Sunday at 6:59 PM

Win7ine said:
Uninstall Device in Devices (Wifi adapter and BT adapter) manager inclusive of removing driver, then remove all remaining (inactive) drivers in the Bluetooth and Network adapters section utilising "Driver Store Explorer", reboot and Windows will re-enumerate your hardware.

Thanks for the suggestion, so should I uninstall both/separately the bluetooth and the wifi adapter via the Device Manager ? I'll try and report back, thanks

Update: worked! Uninstalled through Device Manager, rebooted, again via Device Manager chose "update driver" (was showing up as unknown device) and manualy directed to the folder I had downloaded the drivers. Thanks again for the help.

Berton · Sunday at 7:13 PM

MultiDoc said:
should I uninstall both/separately the bluetooth and the wifi adapter

Most times the Wireless/Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are part of the same adapter. The Bluetooth can be turned off but turning off the Wireless may kill both.

glasskuter · Sunday at 7:13 PM

I know it's to each his own, but if everything is working, why mess with removing/reinstalling/un-pairing/re-pairing devices with chances being it still might not change the name. I'm a pretty OCD person about a lot of things when it comes to my computer, but not to the extent that a number included in the way a device is named in device manager would bother me. You do you, but I just don't see it.

MultiDoc · Sunday at 7:23 PM

glasskuter said:
I know it's to each his own, but if everything is working, why mess with removing/reinstalling/un-pairing/re-pairing devices with chances being it still might not change the name. I'm a pretty OCD person about a lot of things when it comes to my computer, but not to the extent that a number included in the way a device is named in device manager would bother me. You do you, but I just don't see it.

I'm also in the same boat of "don't fix if it ain't broken" but some times my ocd takes over and something like this bother me :). In any case it worked and it was simple enough (providing you have the drivers downloaded in advance that is).

garlin · Sunday at 7:28 PM

Run this PowerShell script as Administrator:

Code:

$Old_Description = 'Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection #12345'
$New_Description = 'Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection'

foreach ($Device in (Get-ChildItem -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum' -Recurse -Depth 2 | where { $_.Property -ne $null })) {
    foreach ($Name in (Get-ItemProperty -Path $Device.PSPath | where { $_ -match 'FriendlyName' })) {
        if ((Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path $Device.PSPath -Name 'FriendlyName') -eq $Old_Description) {
            $Matched_Device = $Device.PSPath
            break
        }
    }
}

if ($Matched_Device -ne $null)
{
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $Matched_Device -Name 'FriendlyName' -Value $New_Description -Force -Verbose
}
else {
    "Warning: no device matches `"$Old_Description`"."
}

It searches for one device description at a time, and replaces the string. Update the description strings, and run as often as you need.

antspants · Sunday at 7:29 PM

garlin said:

Run this PowerShell script as Administrator:

Code:

$Old_Description = 'Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection #12345'
$New_Description = 'Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection'

foreach ($Device in (Get-ChildItem -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum' -Recurse -Depth 2 | where { $_.Property -ne $null })) {
    foreach ($Name in (Get-ItemProperty -Path $Device.PSPath | where { $_ -match 'FriendlyName' })) {
        if ((Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path $Device.PSPath -Name 'FriendlyName') -eq $Old_Description) {
            $Matched_Device = $Device.PSPath
            break
        }
    }
}

if ($Matched_Device -ne $null)
{
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $Matched_Device -Name 'FriendlyName' -Value $New_Description -Force -Verbose
}
else {
    "Warning: no device matches `"$Old_Description`"."
}

It searches for one device description at a time, and replaces the string. Update the description strings, and run as often as you need.

Very handy, nice

garlin · Sunday at 8:14 PM

I rewrote the script with several improvements:
- only searches for Network Adapters
- tries to find any Adapter which has a trailing "#N" in the description
- skips renaming the Adapter if another instance has the identical name, but without a number

Code:

$AdapterList = (Get-NetAdapter).InterfaceDescription | where { $_ -match ' #(\d+)$' }

:toploop foreach ($Old_Description in $AdapterList) {
    $New_Description = $Old_Description -replace ' #(\d+)$',''

    foreach ($Device in (Get-ChildItem -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum' -Recurse -Depth 2 | where { $_.Property -ne $null })) {
        foreach ($Name in (Get-ItemProperty -Path $Device.PSPath | where { $_ -match 'FriendlyName' })) {
            $Registry_Description = Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path $Device.PSPath -Name 'FriendlyName'

            if ($Registry_Description -eq $New_Description) {
                "Skipping `"$Old_Description`" as another device has the same name."
                break toploop
            }

            if ($Registry_Description -eq $Old_Description) {
                $Matched_Device = $Device.PSPath
            }
        }
    }

    "Renaming `"$Old_Description`"- > `"$New_Description`""
    Set-ItemProperty -Path $Matched_Device -Name 'FriendlyName' -Value $New_Description -Force
}

Code:

PS C:\Users\GARLIN\Downloads> .\Rename_InterfaceDescription.ps1
Renaming "Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection #6"- > "Intel(R) 82574L Gigabit Network Connection"

PS C:\Users\GARLIN\Downloads> .\Rename_InterfaceDescription.ps1

PS C:\Users\GARLIN\Downloads>

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