How to turn on the Bluetooth of my laptop?

Question

This is my first question to the site.
I have a problem where I can't turn on the bluetooth on my laptop. If anybody could give help me solve this I'd be very grateful!

Laptop Details
- Dell Latitude E5510.
- Windows 7 32-bit.

Problems
- The bluetooth light is not lit (WiFi is lit).
- The bluetooth icon is not in the system tray.
- There are no settings in 'Control Panel' for bluetooth.
- There are no drivers in 'Device Manager' for bluetooth.

Troubleshooting Already Attempted
- Ensured that bluetooth was enabled in the BIOS.
- Updated BIOS to version A11.
- Downloaded and attempted to install drivers (R285455.exe, R260222.exe, R296919.exe). When I try to run R260222.exe, it tells me that it is incompatible. When I run the other two drivers, it extracts the items but then asks me to "activate bluetooth using wireless switch". The switch is already on but no light appears for the bluetooth symbol. It's a catch 22!
- Ensured that the 'Bluetooth Support Service' was started.

I've been searching for the solution for hours now and just have no idea what else to do. If I've missed out on any information, please let me know.

*EDIT* I'm beginning to think that there is no physical bluetooth adaptor in my laptop at all.

Answer 1

Here's how to check for physical presence of Bluetooth in a Dell Ex510 system:

• In BIOS, it will say under Wireless or Radios or Networking (sorry, I don't remember the exact menu section and I don't have time to reboot my machine right now) something along the lines of "Bluetooth installed" and might list the module model.
• You can go to Dell Warranty Status and click to Original System Configuration tab. Dell Bluetooth module for Ex510 was 375. Search the page (press CTRL + F) for it.
• Checking for physical presence is tricky and you shouldn't do it unless you have experience re-assembling laptops. The procedure can be found here (Dell Support).

What you might be experiencing is that the radio switch in the front left of the palm rest is set to control both wi-fi & Bluetooth and is currently turned off. The setting is in BIOS in the same section as enabling/disabling radios. You can set it to only control wi-fi so that Bluetooth is controlled by its drivers in Windows.

Answer 2

If you're not already running this BIOS version you may want to consider upgrading as it indicates some BIOS-level fixes for Bluetooth problems.

Fixed the issue where Bluetooth is disabled after turning the wireless switch off and rebooting.

Answer 3

@dnbrv Yeah, that's what I searched for.
Here is the full list anyway:
- LATITUDE E5510 : STANDARD BASE
- SYSTEM BASE : EXPRESS CARD SLOT
- PROCESSOR : INTEL CORE I3-350M(2.26GHZ, 1
- DISPLAY : 15.6IN HD ANTI-GLARE LED DISPL
- MODULE..., PALMREST..., NFPRDR, SINGLE POINTING..., E5510
- MODULE..., BEZEL..., LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY..., 15.6, MICROPHONE..., E5510
- DOCUMENTATION : ENGLISH SHIPPING DOCS
- MEMORY : 3GB(1X1GB + 1X2GB)1333MHZ DDR3
- HARD DRIVE : 250GB SERIAL ATA (7200RPM)
- WINDOWS LIVE
- MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., POWERDVD..., 8.3, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., TT, FACTORY INSTALL...
- OPTICAL DRIVE : ROXIO CREATOR 10.3 SOFTW
- OPTICAL DRIVE : 8X DVD+/-RW DRIVE
- POWER SUPPLY + POWER CORD : UK/IRISH 3 W
- BATTERY : PRIMARY 4-CELL 37W/HR LI-ION
- LABELS : INTEL CORE LABEL I3
- WIRELESS : EMEA INTEL PRO WIRELESS 6200
- KEYBOARD : INTERNAL UK/IRISH QWERTY SING
- SOFTWARE DRIVER : LATITUDE E5510
- MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., W7P32, ENGLAND/ENGLISH..., EUROPEAN MANUFACTURING FACILITY...
- MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., W7P32, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., MULTIPLE USER INTERFACE..., NO-E
- SOFTWARE : MICROSOFT OFFICE STARTER 2010
- OPERATING SYSTEM RECOVERY DELL BACKUP AN
- SOFTWARE..., TREND MICRO..., WF, MULTIPLE USER INTERFACE..., 15MTH
- LATITUDE ORDER - IRELAND
- BASE WARRANTY
- 1YR COLLECT AND RETURN
- DECLINED PROSUPPORT
- 3YR BASIC WARRANTY - NEXT BUSINESS DAY
- DECLINED COMPLETECARE
- NOTEBOOK - FREE FREIGHT SKU