Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Ethernet not working Windows 7

PCIe GBE Family Controller is a Realtek controller chipset that will connect your computer system’s mainframe PCI Express (PCIe) bus with the Giga Band Ethernet (GBE). Moreover, it also enables your computer to get connected to any wired Internet network (via an Ethernet cable) to allow you to access the internet.

Basically, the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller is a driver that is needed for the LAN hardware connected to the motherboard of your computer.

If your Realtek controller keeps disconnecting from the network or if you see a yellow exclamation on it in the Device Manager window, there might be a problem with it. Perhaps, the device manager might also be showing the error code 12 or network adapter code error 31. 

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller driver-related issues are pretty common and easy to fix too. This article will give you all the ways to fix this Realtek network driver problem on your Windows 10.

There could be several reasons why your Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller is not working properly. One of the reasons behind this could be as simple as enabling your wired and wireless connections at the same time.

So, to disable your Wi-Fi, you just need to hover the mouse pointer over the Wifi icon and click on it. Disable the current Wi-Fi connection and you’re good to go!

The Realtek Controller could be showing problems due to more serious reasons too. For example, you might have downloaded the PCIe GBE family controller driver from some untrustworthy site.

It is of utmost importance that you only download the drivers from the official Realtek site. Otherwise, you run a risk of downloading a defective product, or worse, the downloaded driver might not be affiliated with your motherboard’s company. 

Moreover, if you use questionable sites that don’t have a valid or proper domain name, you run a risk of infecting your computer with viruses, malware, etc. This will infect and compromise your computer with malicious software and you wouldn’t get the desired product as well. 

So, to sum up, the following are some of the conditions that might have triggered the Realtek PCIe GBE Family controller issue on your system:

• Corruption in system files
• Conflict with pre-existing or new drivers.
• Integrated LAN card on motherboard damaged.

How to Fix the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Not Working Issue?

1. System Restore Point

If you already have a system restore point from back when everything in your computer was working fine, you’re in luck. This will save you a lot of time and work if you have to face a condition like this. It will help you repair the Windows 10 Realtek controller without having to modify the settings of the system.

So, if you happen to have a system restore point, then follow the steps given below to restore your system to that point.

Step 1. Press the Windows key + R.

Step 2. Enter “rstrui.exe” and click on “OK.”

Step 3. A window comes up, click on the “System Restore” button

Step 4. Choose the Restore Point to which you want to restore the system. For this, you need to select the date and time when everything was working fine with your PC. Then, click on “Next.”

Now, your computer will go back to the point when there was no error. However, if you don’t already have a restore point, the following error message will come up: “No restore points have been created on your computer’s system drive. To create a restore point, open system protectors.”

This means that system protection is not enabled in your system and even if it isn’t, it’s a good practice to enable it now. Follow the given steps to do the same:

Step 1. Click on “System Protection.”

Step 2. Click on the “System Protection” tab under the “Protection Settings.” Then click on “Configure.”

Step 3. A pop-up window will appear where you can turn on your system protection. Also, allot 5-10% of disk space for this purpose and click on “OK.”

2. Manually Update the Drivers

In case you don’t have any System Restore Point pre-existing on your computer, you can try this solution instead. This step involves manually installing the updates for the drivers of your Realtek LAN controller.

For this, first, download the latest Realtek controller drivers from the motherboard’s manufacturer website. Once done, follow the given steps to install the updates:

Step 1. Hit the Windows key+R to go to the Run box. Type “devmgmt.msc” here and click on “OK.”

Step 2. Now, a list of devices will show up in the Device Manager window.  Scroll down to the category of “Network adapters” and expand it. 

Step 3. Find the “Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller” option and right-click on it. Then, select the “Update” option.

Step 4. A pop-up window will come up. Click on “Browse my computer for driver software” (Manual mode). This will let you manually point towards the driver updates you downloaded earlier.

Step 5. Click on “Browse” and select the location where you downloaded the updates for the controller driver. Then, click on “Next.”

This will allow you to choose and install the driver yourself. Wait for the installation procedure to be finished. Once done, reboot your system and hopefully, everything will now be working normally.

3. Check for Windows Updates

Almost everybody knows about this, yet very few actually execute it. Maybe, your computer needs some important updates to function properly and so, your Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller could be malfunctioning.

So, it’s important to keep your system updated at all times to allow the drivers and other accessories to stay updated as well.

Follow the steps given below to update your system:

Step 1. First, you need to find out if your system needs some updates. Click on the search icon next to the Start button on the toolbar and type “update”.

Step 2. Click on “Check for updates” from the results shown. This will show you if there are any updates awaiting action. 

Step 3. You can choose to download and install the updates right away or schedule a time for the action.

If your system is set to install updates automatically, you don’t need to check or download and install them manually. This step will be done by Windows OS itself and you can skip this method.

4. Check out the Network Controller Settings

Your Realtek Family Controller could be having issues due to certain settings as well. So, it would be beneficial if you check out and configure the settings for your PCIe controller to make the Ethernet work again:

Step 1. Open the Device Manager and expand the Network Adapters option in the list of devices.

Step 2. Right-click on “Realtek Driver” and its Properties will open up. 

Step 3. Now, in the Properties window, go to the Advanced tab and then find the Property option. Find “Auto disable Gigabit.”

Step 4. Click on “Re-link, battery or AC.”

Step 5. Also, under the same category Property, find “Green Ethernet” and disable it.

Step 6. Once done with the changes, click on “OK.”

Now, check if the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller problem has gone or not.

5. Switch to a New PCIe Network Adapter

If the aforementioned methods didn’t work, it is implied that your current Realtek Network Adapter for Windows 10 has malfunctioned or is dead. Here, the only way to fix Realtek PCIe GBE is by getting a new PCIe network adapter.

Fortunately, it won’t cost you much since the network adapters come at an affordable rate in the market. Just find such a net adapter that suits your requirements as far as speed and compatibility with your system’s motherboard is concerned.

However, you won’t be able to replace the adapter on your own. So, to tackle this, you can choose to use a USB wifi adapter that can be connected to your WiFi, provided the router supports and is compatible with it.

Wrapping Up

That was all from our side about how to fix the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Driver’s issues with Windows 10. Hopefully, you would have found a solution to fix your Realtek Controller and if not, then, you might need to replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I fix my Realtek PCIe GBE family controller?

There are several ways to fix Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller issues with Windows 10. Some of these include restoring the System to a prior point when you didn’t get the error, manually updating the Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller driver, updating your system, etc. The above article discusses all of the solutions to fix the Realtek controller driver in detail. Go through the same to know more.

What is Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Windows 10?

The Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller for Windows 10 is a driver on your motherboard that controls your LAN connection, i.e. the wired internet connection hardware. 

How do I update my Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Driver?

Go to Device Manager
Open the Network Adapters window and right-click on Realtek PCIe. Then, click on “Remove Drivers.”
Click on “Action” on the Device Manager window and then on “Scan for hardware changes.”

What is the Realtek PCIe GBE family controller used for?

Realtek PCIe GBE family controller is a network driver that consists of a set of chips on your motherboard for connecting your PCI Express (PCIe) bus to the Giga Band Ethernet (GBE). In other words, it is responsible for the wired or LAN connection on your computer. 

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