Recently I purchased a Bluetooth headset for my mobile phone. The headset works perfectly with my phone, but when I attempt to pair it with my computer Windows XP does not recognise the device as a headset. Researching this problem on the internet it seems that I need a Bluetooth headset profile to use the device with the computer and the recommended advice is to install the profile which came with the headset. However, this headset did not come with any software. Is there some kind of generic headset profile that I can download and use or do you have an alternative suggestion?

In order to resolve this problem we first need to understand what is meant by a Bluetooth profile and how they are used to facilitate communication between the computer and the Bluetooth headset. Bluetooth profiles are essentially a standardised specification defining the functionality of Bluetooth devices. When manufacturers produce Bluetooth devices they design their devices to conform with these Bluetooth profiles to ensure that they can interoperate and work with a variety of different client devices (such as mobile phones from different manufacturers) which have also been designed to conform to these profiles. Essentially, this means that all manufacturers of Bluetooth devices conform to these common specifications allowing Bluetooth devices to speak a common language. There are many different types of Bluetooth profiles (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_profile) each specifying particular functionality. A device does not need to conform to all the Bluetooth profiles, but just those which dictate the functionality which that Bluetooth device wishes to offer. For example, your Bluetooth headset may conform to the Headset Profile (HSP) as that defines the functionality which the headset desires to provide. However, it is unlikely that your headset conforms to the Fax Profile (FAX) which is designed to allow a phone to communicate with a computer that has fax software installed.

Now that we understand the purpose of the Bluetooth stack we can start to consider why it is not working with your computer. Windows XP SP2 and later have the Microsoft Bluetooth stack installed as part of the operating system. The Bluetooth stack is also known as a network stack and facilitates communication between your computer and networked devices. In the case of the Bluetooth stack, it facilitates communication between your computer and Bluetooth devices. Other well-known networking stacks include the TCP/IP stack which facilitates communication between your computer and other TCP/IP devices, which is the protocol of the internet – you are using the TCP/IP stack every day whenever you access the internet.

However, the Microsoft Bluetooth stack built into Windows has very limited support for Bluetooth profiles. In fact, the Microsoft Bluetooth stack does not support the Headset Profile that we require to allow your headset to work with your Windows XP computer. As such, the Bluetooth headset will not work with Windows XP out of the box, but instead we need to do some tweaks to try and get this working. The best method is to install a different Bluetooth stack on the computer. I assume that since your computer is relatively old (as you are still running Windows XP) that you do not have in-built Bluetooth but instead have purchased a Bluetooth dongle or adapter for the computer. It is likely that the manufacturer of the adapter provides an alternative Bluetooth stack which can be installed. Other Bluetooth stacks often have greater support for different Bluetooth profiles, hopefully more so than the Microsoft stack so that you can successfully use the Bluetooth headset with the computer. It is an involved process to change the Bluetooth stack on the computer and is best illustrated with screen shots. As such, I will direct you to a very good website at oreilly.com/windows/archive/bluetooth.html which explains the process of changing the Bluetooth stack very clearly. I would suggest that you heed one very important warning that you should only use the Bluetooth stack for the specific adapter which you have purchased and not try to use the stack from a different manufacturer. This is because each manufacturer customises the stack for their specific hardware, so you could experience quite unexpected results if you use a Bluetooth stack not designed for your adapter.

Unfortunately my research has yielded the same result as yours, in that the limitation imposed by the Microsoft Bluetooth stack results in you needing to install a different Bluetooth stack in order to get the headset working. There is no “generic” profile that you can download, simply because the profiles are tailored to the individual manufacturer and also well integrated into the Bluetooth stack making the process of introducing new profiles non-trivial. If you are unable to find an alternative Bluetooth stack for the current Bluetooth adapter that you have installed then you may wish to look at purchasing a different adapter, but you would want to check the manufacturers website beforehand to ensure the new adapter will support a different Bluetooth stack that does support the headsets.