Need help with laptop

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Hi guys ,

I am looking for some help. My wifi doesnt seem to be working on my laptop anymore. I have tried all the usual trouble shooting windows fixes but to no avail.....

I think it maybe something more troublesome , anyone any recommendations on where I can leave this into get fixed ?

Or anyone some cheap alternative :-)

Thanks

FSL

Are you sure it's switched on? Most laptops have a function key or even an actual switch to toggle the wireless on and off.

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Well it works sometimes I checked my laptop andthere doesnt seem to be an on / off wifi button..

I am thinking wuld the cheapest option be a wireless adapter ?

ScumLord

Little Pea wrote: »

Well it works sometimes I checked my laptop andthere doesnt seem to be an on / off wifi button..

I am thinking wuld the cheapest option be a wireless adapter ?

Adding another wireless adapter to the mix probably isn't going to help.

Is there any other device connecting up to your wireless network? Is that working? The fault could be at the router so you need to make sure the problem is with your wireless adapter. It probably is.

Is there a yellow exclamation point over the network icon in the bottom right?

FSL

What model is the laptop?
Have you tried uninstalling the wireless adapter in Device Manager and then rebooting the Laptop?

If the wireless adapter in the laptop is faulty then a USB wireless adapter should work. Assuming it's Windows I would disable the internal adapter in Device Manager before installing the USB adapter.

Do you have a friend who has a USB wireless adapter you could try?

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ScumLord wrote: »

Adding another wireless adapter to the mix probably isn't going to help.

Is there any other device connecting up to your wireless network? Is that working? The fault could be at the router so you need to make sure the problem is with your wireless adapter. It probably is.

Is there a yellow exclamation point over the network icon in the bottom right?

There is no yellow exclamation point , the wireless is blanked out with a small red symbol.

Other devices etc can connect to my wireless network no problem.

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FSL wrote: »

What model is the laptop?
Have you tried uninstalling the wireless adapter in Device Manager and then rebooting the Laptop?

If the wireless adapter in the laptop is faulty then a USB wireless adapter should work. Assuming it's Windows I would disable the internal adapter in Device Manager before installing the USB adapter.

Do you have a friend who has a USB wireless adapter you could try?

The laptop is an acer. I havent tried uninstalling the wireless adapter as I wouldnt know how or even how to reinstall ( sorry IT n00b ).

wush06

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mini-150M-USB-WiFi-Wireless-N-LAN-Network-Adapter-802-11n-g-b-/200822906643?pt=US_USB_Wi_Fi_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item2ec1fa5f13

Sorted.

bonzodog2

Little Pea wrote: »

There is no yellow exclamation point , the wireless is blanked out with a small red symbol.

Other devices etc can connect to my wireless network no problem.

Sounds like its disabled. Open Network Connections and check.

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bonzodog2 wrote: »

Sounds like its disabled. Open Network Connections and check.

When i run the diagnostics it tells me that there is an error with it , aftre it tries to reset it etc ....

MarkR

Can you tell us the model of acer laptop, or the description in device manager of the wireless card?

If possible, the easiest thing to do would be to connect a network cable to your laptop, connect that directly to the modem, and uninstall, reinstall the device using windows updates.

There are other things you can do to test the card, like using a live linux cd that runs an operating system from usb/cd. Pretty easy to do also.

bezerk

uninstall and reinstall the driver usually does the trick

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MarkR wrote: »

Can you tell us the model of acer laptop, or the description in device manager of the wireless card?

If possible, the easiest thing to do would be to connect a network cable to your laptop, connect that directly to the modem, and uninstall, reinstall the device using windows updates.

There are other things you can do to test the card, like using a live linux cd that runs an operating system from usb/cd. Pretty easy to do also.

the model is Acer Aspire 5750G

how would I go about uninstaling the card and reinstalling ??

Thanks

ScumLord

Little Pea wrote: »

the model is Acer Aspire 5750G

how would I go about uninstaling the card and reinstalling ??

Thanks

You can make sure it's on first.

control panel > Hardware and sound, then at the top under devices and printers you'll see device manager. In that list you'll see network adaptors, right click to see options, enable the card if it's not enabled.

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ScumLord wrote: »

You can make sure it's on first.

control panel > Hardware and sound, then at the top under devices and printers you'll see device manager. In that list you'll see network adaptors, right click to see options, enable the card if it's not enabled.

Perfect will try this as soon as I go home, If its already enabled what should be the next step ?

bezerk

Uninstall from device manager, Restart Laptop and windows should automatically re-install driver. If not you will need to download the driver from the manufacturers website and reinstall.

Torqay

Little Pea wrote: »

I checked my laptop andthere doesnt seem to be an on / off wifi button..

Fn + F3

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Hey guys ,

I have un-install / re-install the WIFI adapter , this still didn't fix the problem

The adapter is also enabled.

Any other ideas ? Or will I buy myself a new WIFI adapter ??

Torqay

Grab some Linux Live CD and see if it works... before you spend money.

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Torqay wrote: »

Grab some Linux Live CD and see if it works... before you spend money.

NO idea what that is never mind where to find it :-)

Torqay

A Linux Live CD is an operating system booting from a CD/DVD, it will not make changes to Windows on the hard drive. If WiFi works in Linux, then it's a software problem in Windows and spending money on a new WLAN adapter will not solve it.

Knoppix is very popular, get the latest ISO here.

wush06

Looking on the net and there seems to be a problem with that adapter on the laptop. I know buying a 5 or 6 euro adapter will not fix the original problem but it will get you up and running.

MarkR

Depends on how flush you are. You can buy a usb adapter for testing, or you can spend a few minutes downloading a linux operating system and putting it onto either a usb drive or cd. It's very easy.

MarkR

There are three different wireless drives for this model, depending on which you have.

Wireless LAN Atheros Wireless LAN Driver 9.2.0.432 44.7 MB 2012/03/13 Download
Wireless LAN Broadcom Wireless LAN Driver 5.100.82.87 33.5 MB 2012/03/13 Download
Wireless LAN Intel Wireless LAN Driver 14.1.1.3 101.2 MB 2012/03/13 Download

If you can tell by the description which one you have, uninstall it from the device manager (right click and uninstall) and uninstall any relevant software from add / remove progams in the control panel. Restart and install the correct driver.

To be honest, I'd go with the linux usb thing first. It'll take five minutes and show you one way or another is the hardware working. Create bootable usb, turn off computer. Insert usb drive. Turn on computer and tap F8 until your advanced boot menu appears. Choose to boot from USB, and the usb operating system should launch. It will load up pretty much by itself, with a fairly easy to use intuitive desktop. Wireless will be either top right or bottom right. Familiar looking icon anyway. If you can see any wireless networks, you're looking at a software problem.

bezerk

Would it have something to do with the modded windows that comes with all new laptops? I always just do a clean install of windows from a normal cd when I get a new one. Just curious.

riclad

You might have a virus that effected the files that manage wifi on the laptop,
us imgburn free program to burn the iso linux file to a cdr.
USE burn image menu option, set burn speed to 2x.in settings .
i fixed a pc ,had a virus that just deleted the keyboard driver files,
everything else worked ,but the keyboard was disabled.

WHEN you get windows on a new laptop, all the drivers are installed ,
plus maybe a few demo programs,an antivirus ,so the devices including wifi should all work perfectly.
YOU should have security updates set to download and install automatically ,otherwise your are likely to get a virus.

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Hey guys thanks for all the comments and help , I really appreciated it.

I went out bought a new wifi adapter = problem sorted now :-)


Thanks