Apple products generally don’t have integrated Bluetooth, so the only way to connect a Bluetooth device to an Apple computer is through a USB adapter. In Windows, it’s more complicated – the simple way is to check Device Manager – if you can see bluetooth.inf or bth.inf , you have Bluetooth built-in. But since not all computers with integrated Bluetooth show up this way, we’ll go deeper and look at other clues…
Check If Your Computer Has Bluetooth
If your PC came with a keyboard or mouse that needs a dongle, then there’s no doubt that those devices are connected via Bluetooth instead of USB. So that’s another clue as to whether your system has it or not. Another clue would be the availability of bluctl from the repositories (or by compiling the sources), which is a command-line tool for controlling Bluetooth.
You can also check your service manager to see if there are any Bluetooth related services running. Type “services” in the Run box and press enter and do a search for Bluetooth. If it exists, you have Bluetooth on your computer:
These methods should help you know whether or not your system has Bluetooth built-in.
How do I add Bluetooth to my PC?
I hope you already know that your Bluetooth won’t work if you don’t have built-in Bluetooth in the first place. If that’s not the case, adding it to some PCs is fairly simple. It can be done through a USB dongle, which is very cheap nowadays (less than $15). There are also mini PCI Express cards for computers with PCI slot, or Integrated wireless adapter / Mini PCIe WiFi card for laptops.
How do I connect my PC/laptop to my external Bluetooth device?
Connecting an external device to your computer using Bluetooth is easy — very similar to how you connect wirelessly on phones and pads today. First off, make sure all devices are in pairing: usually switches on by pressing a button or sliding a switch. You’ll then see the Bluetooth icon on your device blinking Blue — that’s when you go to PC and look for it under “Paired devices” in Device Manager.
Select it, and click next to install your driver. If no driver is found, make sure the device is compatible with your system before going any further! To check if it’s working fine, try playing music from external speakers or test a mouse/keyboard combo. If everything goes well, enjoy yourself! Otherwise, read through manuals to configure correctly.
How do I fix my problem?
As mentioned before, not all computers with integrated Bluetooth show up in Device Manager as such – there are also older PCs without built-in Bluetooth but which support it through an adapter. If you don’t see Bluetooth in Device Manager but still want to use your device, check if the drivers are available for download for your system – you can also try compatibility mode (it’s usually fun) and make sure other settings are correct under Properties>Services>Bluetooth.
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