How To: Fix Dell Truemobile 355 Bluetooth + EDR on Windows 7

One of the few problems that have really been giving a bad rap to Windows 7
users is the loss of proper Bluetooth Connectivity on Dell Laptops, specifically the Truemobile series. 
The cause is, unsurprisingly, a lack of Dell support – no updated drivers.  In fact, if I recall,
my Bluetooth wasn’t working properly on Windows Vista either, which the computer came pre-installed with. 
Since the problem is Dell Drivers, the solution is fairly simple:  Screw Dell, set it back to the
Windows Drivers.

Open up Device Manager.

style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Device Manager"
alt="Device Manager" src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb4.png" width="500"
height="365" />

Once there, right click “Dell Truemobile 355
Bluetooth + EDR” and click “Update Driver Software…”

alt="Browse my computer for driver software"
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb5.png" width="500" height="367" />

You then want to “Browser [your] computer for driver software.”

style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Let me pick from a list of
device drivers on my computer" alt="Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb6.png" width="500" height="367" />

Then click “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”

style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Generic Bluetooth Adapter"
alt="Generic Bluetooth Adapter" src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb7.png"
width="500" height="367" />

Select the bottommost
“Generic Bluetooth Adapter” and then wait forever for it to install. 
(Yes, this one takes forever for some god awful reason, but it seems to consistently work).

href="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image8.png"> src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb8.png" width="500" height="367" />

The next step is disabling the “Power Management” feature to turn this device off. 
(Since Dell has crappy driver support, this only helps to cripple the usage of Bluetooth).

Right
click your new “Generic Bluetooth Adapter” once the Device Manager refreshes.

style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Generic Bluetooth Adapter
Properties" alt="Generic Bluetooth Adapter Properties"
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image_thumb9.png" width="500" height="365" /> 

Click the “Power Management” tab in the properties dialog, and make sure to uncheck “Allow
the computer to turn off this device to save power.”  Once you have done that, you
should be good to go!  No more Bluetooth Problems on your Dell =)

style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title="Uncheck "Allow
the computer to turn off this device to save power"" alt="Uncheck "Allow the computer to
turn off this device to save power""
src="http://tech.gtaero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/image10.png" width="414" height="461" />

In this demonstration, I used a Dell Inspiron E1705, though this
problem plagues many, many other Dell Laptops running Windows 7.