I was wondering about the fan too. Would have been nice if the mic started working also but...

A big thanks to Demosthenes huh?

I know these tech support people operate from a set "script" that they must follow. Problem with this is when they should starting thinking outside the script! Then they don't seem to have a clue!

Absolutely! Saved me a huge hassle! Thanks!

Draclvr, they are reading off a script. The problem with that approach is, a) you annoy the customer, and b) you aren't really paying attention to what's being said.

EXACTLY! And c) you never actually figure out what the problem is.

Unfortunately, you still don't know what the problem is. Why it happened and if it's likely to happen again.

I'm glad it seems to have worked out! This definitely sounds like some sort of USB enumeration issue, which just means that for some reason Windows wasn't properly recognizing the Bluetooth chip as a USB device.

I do think the Bluetooth was probably the mystery USB device, and I've read on various forums that Bluetooth dropping out seems to be a fairly common recurring issue with the network card they chose for these laptops. The bad news is it's likely to recur at some point: the good news is you're not the only one who was able to fix it by disconnecting peripheral(s) and rebooting, so the same fix may work again in the future.

Also found this from a representative of the brand that makes the network card:

"First off, make sure that you do not have any USB devices disabled. The internal Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapter is a USB device, so if there are any USB devices disabled in your Device Manager, this can cause the Bluetooth device to vanish. If you are unable to enable the USB device, then you should resolve that issue first. Once you no longer have any disabled USB devices, the Bluetooth device should show back up."

Source: https://amp.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/6za4q6/razer_blade_14_2017_killer_wireless_bluetooth/

So it's also possible the fan was the mystery device, and it took out the Bluetooth

Thanks so much for stopping in and helping out here, Demosthenes! Much appreciated.

Thank you so much, Demosthenes! I will be filing this away for future reference.

That's good to know, Demosthenes.

The thing is, at least now if it happens again I have some clue as to what's happening. The "mystery" USB device probably appeared in my Device manager after the Bluetooth vanished, but it would never have occurred to me to look in my USB device list until I decided to update all my drivers the other day.

Thanks again!

Me either, hagatha. After reading the Reddit, it appears it may be specific to the "Killer Wireless Bluetooth." A support tech from Killer posted there.

So now that I've told them how to deal with this particular Bluetooth problem next time they encounter it they have decided to help me with the mic issue. More back and forth, but at least I can live without it is it comes to that.

Oh, good grief! Methinks the much-touted Razer support is a bunch of young kids who have zero knowledge except for what is in their script. I get that 99% of issues can be solved that way, but when they can't, they don't seem to be able to think outside the box or even do a simple search on the issue on the internet. The Reddit entry posted by Demosthenes is easily found.

Oh well.

The laptop itself is so good that I have no regrets buying it, though. It runs everything on High and it just screams along.

I think when I buy myself a desktop I'll go back to Alienware. They're hideously expensive but worth it. Plus they're built like tanks. My friend has my old 18" laptop one as his only computer, which he uses for CAD and gaming. His pro-techy kid opened it up, swapped out the two drives, and installed Win 10 and it's like new. The thing just won't quit.

Yeah, but remember that Alienware was bought out by Dell. I know a couple of people who have said Alienware is no longer the machine they used to be. Other people still love them.

Dell is currently being sued over false advertising on the Alienware laptop.

Mine was a Dell Alienware. It never occurred to me that I could upgrade it. I'm really clueless about things like that.

Well, it appears that if you had an Area 51 R1, you still COULDN'T although it was advertised as such!

I have to say, I loaded a blue tooth game controller on mine a few days ago and held my breath!!!

I would have too, Winfrey!