help with wireless network pls! (1 Viewer)

[Allan]

Hello, I was hoping someone here with computer expertise could please help me! Anyway, here is the situation. I have a laptop that was connecting wirelessly to the internet. A few nights ago, when I turned it on, the computer said that there was no operating system. So, I reinstalled Windows XP from CD. Now, Windows is working again, but I cannot get my computer to connect to the internet. I have tried using the standard cable which does not work. Furthermore, when I enter the "network connections" folder, there is no option for a wireless connection.

I was really hoping that someone could help me fix the wired connection AND the wireless one as well! I am feeling desperate here...

thanks so much,
Allan

 

[Marko Berg]

Click Start > Settings > Control Panel and then double-click Network Connections. From the File menu, choose New Connection which opens the New Connection Wizard. On the first screen, the wizard will let you view available wireless connections and you can proceed from there.

 

[Allan]

Marko, I tried that and no wireless connections were listed. It is almost as if my laptop no longer recognizes that I have wireless capability. Is there a fix anyone can think of???

 

[nolesrule]

Did you reinstall the drivers for the networking devices?

 

[Allan]

I don't know... Where would I find those drivers??? Would they be on the Windows XP CD?

 

[nolesrule]

It really depends on how the computer manufacturer packaged them. Some manufacturers provide a reinstallation disc that returns the computer to the way it was when you purchased it. Others provide the XP disc and device drivers on a separate disc.

Check your Device manager to look for devices with yellow question marks or other nasty icons next to them to see if you are missing some drivers. If you don't know how to get there, right click My Computer, select Properties, Hardware tab, Device manager button.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Drivers disc. It should reinstall your wireless and wired drivers...

 

[Allan]

This board is so great with providing assistance! I found a CD labeled "Gateway Applications & Drivers" (my laptop is a Gateway). So, I presume that the wireless and wired drivers are on it? Assuming so, will it be self-explanatory to reinstall them?

thanks!!!

 

[nolesrule]

I haven't dealt with a Gateway driver disc, but if it's anything like Dell it won't be difficult. You will probably need to install drivers for most of the hardware on your system, not just the network cards, and it'll probably involve rebooting more than once.

 

[SethH]

I would install the ethernet driver off the disc to get your internet working. Then I would go to Gateway's website and just download all the newest drivers. Many of these change every few months.

I've never used Gateway's website, but Dell's site makes it very easy to pull up your system and all the drivers that are applicable to it. I'd imagine Gateway's is similar.

 

[Allan]

UPDATE.... I followed everyone's advice and, as it turns out, somehow my wireless device driver was in fact missing. So, I reinstalled it off my drivers disk. Now, the Wireless icon appears again in the system tray. However, I still cannot get my internet to work again. (Also, my wired driver is still present.) Anyway, I tried the wired connection which did not work. Secondly, I tried the wireless connection. It located multiple available wireless connections (including my network), but would not connect to it (or any of the others for that matter).

I am at a total loss... Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

-Allan

 

[SethH]

Do you have a router and a modem? If so, temporarily take the router out of the equation and plug the modem directly into the computer. May not fix it, but it will narrow things down a little more.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Noooo, don't do that. If your machine is what it sounds like, a completely unpatched Windows install, you could be hit with any number of nasty viruses or other automated attacks off the Internet.

Your problem with connecting could be any number of things, like not enabling encryption in the laptop whereas you have encryption on in the wireless router.

By the sound of things, you didn't originally set this up yourself - can't you get some hands-on assistance in getting things going?

You need to install a number of drivers as has been mentioned, and then you absolutely must go to Windows update to grab all the updates. These will probably be many.

But connecting an unpatched, un-firewalled Windows machine directly to the Internet is not a good option. They are just not nearly resistant enough to direct automated attacks.

 

[SethH]

If he enables the XP firewall he will be perfectly fine to connect long enough to make sure his connection works.

Also, I doubt the encryption is the problem (or at least not the only problem) since he said it didn't work when he plugged it in either.

If you're nervous about taking the router out of the equation, then completely reset the router instead.