Wireless adapter vanished

Hi,
On Sunday afternoon, for no reason that I know, my laptop just stopped responding and I had to force a reboot. On restarting the wireless network connection options have disappeared. My cable ethernet connection didn't work either.
Eventually I managed to get the cable connection working by uninstalling it in device manager and rebooting. It successfully reinstalled and I am able to reconnect via cable.
However, the wireless adapter is not visible anywhere. I can only see the wired ethernet connection in network adapter settings.
I've downloaded and reinstalled the relevant drivers.
In services.msc the WLAN is activated and running.
I've done a system check and it says that it the 802.11bgn 1T1R Mini Card Wireless Adapter is installed - but turning the wifi button on and off does not activate it.
I can only assume that something has happened to it because I just can't seem to activate it any more.

IP config:
C:\Users\Jo>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : GD-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-22-21-8E-41
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::bd98:9c69:bb78:29a0%18(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 August 2014 11:00:21
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 07 August 2014 11:00:20
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 151004194
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-18-36-56-8D-00-24-22-21-8E-41

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.home:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter 6TO4 Adapter:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:90d7:1031:1f0:a94c:4f91(Prefe
rred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1031:1f0:a94c:4f91%13(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

I know I can continue to stay online with the cable... but it is frustrating. Just want to get it working again.
I am partially resigned to the thought that it is broken though...
Oh... and I didn't have a restore point to before the fault occurred... I thought I had... but apparently not... so I am KICKING myself!
Any thoughts?
Am I up the proverbial creek having lost my paddle?