Dell DW1520 Wireless Lan is not enabled on startup

Hi

So sory u had to go through all this trouble with your Studio 1747.

I do agree that you need to try all possible alternatives before considering re-installation of the OS.

Firstly lets try removing the software for the wireless card completely.

Go to Add/Remove programs and check if the Dell Wireless utility is installed, if yes go ahead and remove it and restart the system, If not proceed to next step.

Go to system restore and create a restore point (All Programs>Accessories>System tools>System Restore)

After that check your device manager and see if the card is detected, if it is, then right click and uninstall, if given an option put a check mark in front of 'Uninstall Driver Software'.

Restart the system.

Check your device manager again.

IF your device is detected and has a yellow exclamation mark, then right click and click on 'Update Driver Software'. Select check online for updates, let windows install the driver software for the card. Once done, restart the system.

If windows is unable to install the driver software, Download the wireless drivers from the Support Site for your Studio 1747  

Monitor the system for a while and let me know what happens.

Hello Telson,

Thank you very much for the response. I followed the instructions mentioned above but unfortunately, still have the same issue i.e. WLAN card isn't always enabled at startup. 

Any other suggestions?

Regards

Try something simple first. In the Properties of the card, Power Management tab, check that 'Allow the computer to turn off this device....etc.' is selected. Then Windows knows to wake the card after Hibernation and Sleep as well as Shutdown.

Try Mary's method if it does not work try these.

Follow the screen shots carefully.

1)  Click on start and in the search box type 'Services'. Click on the service application listed on top. {Sory for the red paint :) }

2) Then a windows will open up, in this window find 'WLAN Autoconfig'

3) Right click on WLAN Autoconfig and click on properties.

4) Then a window similar to the one below will be in front, make sure the startup type is 'Automatic' If any other would only mean this was why cause of this problem. Also check if the service state is 'Started'. Proceed to the next screen shot.

Also make sure you have the 'Recovery' Tab same as the one below.

Click on Apply and then OK, restart your system.

Hi Telson,

Again, thank you very much for the response and the detailed steps! I checked service manager and followed the steps mentioned in your post. The settings on my laptop are all as mentioned above.

I must mention though that the occurrence of this failure has reduced since I did the remove and install of the drivers based on your earlier suggestion. While in the past the WLAN adapter would never start up after a prolonged period of inactivity (i.e. computer shut down), I do notice that nowadays, it is sometimes active even when the laptop is started after a few hours of inactivity.  However, there are still some instances when the adapter isn't enabled and the computer has to be restarted to enable the adapter. It is a strange behaviour and I seem to have no clues as to why it behaves likes this sometimes while at other times it seems perfectly ok.

Any more suggestions? Really appreciate your help.

Regards

Hi Telson, Again, thank you very much for the response and the detailed steps! I checked service manager and followed the steps mentioned in your post. The settings on my laptop are all as mentioned above. I must mention though that the occurrence of this failure has reduced since I did the remove and install of the drivers based on your earlier suggestion. While in the past the WLAN adapter would never start up after a prolonged period of inactivity (i.e. computer shut down), I do notice that nowadays, it is sometimes active even when the laptop is started after a few hours of inactivity.  However, there are still some instances when the adapter isn't enabled and the computer has to be restarted to enable the adapter. It is a strange behaviour and I seem to have no clues as to why it behaves likes this sometimes while at other times it seems perfectly ok. Any more suggestions? Really appreciate your help. Regards

Thanks for the clarification! Have removed the check from the power management option.....but I still had to restart the laptop 3 times to get the wireless adapter enabled. :emotion-9:

Something is not right.

Walk me through this again would you ?

Does the wireless adapter ever when working fine get disabled automatically?

When you start the system the wireless gets disabled, right ? have u checked in device manager as well as network and sharing center and tried enabling the device there? If not try this the next time you restart when the card is disabled click on the signal bar select network and sharing center, then on the left hand side you will see change adapter settings.

In this page is the wireless adapter shown as disabled?. if so, double click on it see if it re-enables and connects to ur wireless network

I too am having the exact same problem with my 1747 and DW1520 card.  I have walked through your suggestions and still encounter the same problems.  About 75% of the time, I can go into the Device Manager, Disable the card, Enable it again and it will correct the problem.  The other 25% of the time, I have to restart the laptop multiple times until it clears.  About 1 out of every 10 times this occurs, I find the following error with the card (I Disable/Enable at this point and it works):

Thanks,

Don

Hi Telson,

Yes, something is not right and it is a bit of a mystery.

Response to your questions in line below, in bold italic.

Does the wireless adapter ever when working fine get disabled automatically? - No, have never noticed the wireless adapter getting disabled when working fine. It seems to be disabled only at start up, sometimes.

When you start the system the wireless gets disabled, right ? - Yes, it is disabled at start up. see attached screen shot below..

have u checked in device manager as well as network and sharing center and tried enabling the device there? If not try this the next time you restart when the card is disabled click on the signal bar select network and sharing center, then on the left hand side you will see change adapter settings.

In this page is the wireless adapter shown as disabled?. if so, double click on it see if it re-enables and connects to ur wireless network - Yes, checked before and did it again now. The wireless adapter is not visible on the Network and sharing center->adapter settings page (see attachment capture.jpeg). It is also not visible in device manager (see attachment capture1.jpeg). However, once I restarted my laptop, it came alive (see attachment capture1_after.jpeg).

capture.jpeg

capture1.jpeg

capture1_after.jpeg

Regards

Thank you for the screenshots.

Looks like the card physically is not getting detected.

Will you be able to reseat the wireless card ?

Thanks! The Dell technician that came to change the motherboard on my laptop did that i.e. checked the connections to the card and also that the wireless card is fixed properly. I'm not sure if my trying it again will 

1. Make a difference

2. Invalidate the warranty on my laptop.

Depending on the answers to the above, I can surely give it a try. How do I do it? Just open the laptop and push the card in the slot properly?

Regards

Reseating the memory card could make a difference, and no it wont invalidate your warranty. If only there is a physical damage or you replace it with another part is when the warranty gets void.

Follow this guide on how to reseat the Wireless card.

Studio 1747 Wireless Minicard Service Guide

If you dont want to open it yourself then our only option is restoring to factory defaults and checking.

Does the same happen when in Safe mode with networking ??

 ramk_s,

Restart your computer and press F2 and enter the BIOS. Lookm and see that the wireless adapter is enabled there.

Also try running Finding System Information and at the bottomm it should list your network adapters. See if it shows up there.

Rick