Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
93313
December 29th, 2008 11:00
Dell Wi-Fi Catcher Network Locator won't leave me alone!
Help! I'm going crazy! I have a new Dell Studio 1527 running Vista and it comes with a "wi-fi catcher" button that allows you to scan for available wireless networks. Unfortunately, what's happening is that the pop-up box showing all detected networks keeps popping up randomly over whatever I am doing. I have disabled the feature in "Quick Set" but that doesn't work. I've checked task manager, etc. to kill the process but nothing seems to be there. At this point I would be happy with no wi-fi catcher at all, but I can't figure out how to even unistall that without losing all of the Quick Set programs.
Dell support was, of course, no help at all...even after remotely viewing my screen and watching it happen time and time again. Thanks in advance for any help.
Larry R
2 Intern
•
1.7K Posts
0
December 30th, 2008 11:00
Is the wifi switch on the side of the computer stuck in the momentary position? What happens if you move that switch to the "off" position?
kbalfe
4 Posts
0
December 30th, 2008 12:00
Hi, thanks for responding. The Wi-Fi switch itself, which controls the actual radio, is in the "on" position because I am using wi-fi. If I turn that to off, it disables the radio and I lose my internet connection.
The "Wi-Fi Catcher" is controlled by a button on the back left side of the computer. When I push that the Locator appears (as it should)...the problem is that it also pops up on it's own randomly.
In Quick Set I completely disabled the Wi-Fi Locator and it still pops up. Then I completely disabled the Wi-Fi Switch...still nothing. Now I've actually deleted the application "WiFiLocator.exe" from the machine and so far that seems to have worked, but it's obviously not an ideal solution.
Larry R
2 Intern
•
1.7K Posts
0
December 30th, 2008 14:00
Ah, thats what I get for not chcking the docs on that system. They changed the switch arrangement on me. :emotion-1:
It definitely sounds to me like a problem with the button itself. From what I see looking at the system teardown info, that button is part of the LCD panel top plastics (the top of the system when it is closed). I would recommend calling tech support back and letting them know all of the troubleshooting you have done, as well as the fact that uninstalling the WiFiLocator application causes the errors to stop. Either the software is triggering when it shouldn't, or the button is stuck and triggering the software.
lonkny
1 Message
1
April 28th, 2011 11:00
Also, just an FYI - if you hit F2 during startup you will enter the BIOS. At the bottom there is a "Wireless" section that also allows you to enable & disable the Dell Wi-Fi Catcher. This feature has caused many problems on several of our Dell laptops, so I simply disable it here in the BIOS and that seems to work best. Hope this helps.
julscott
1 Message
0
September 13th, 2011 12:00
My Dell 1520 Inspiron had the same issue for a day, and I eventually found a way to play with the WIFI switch to get it to stop. I pushed the switch back with one hand while pulling it forward slightly with the other hand to make it go to an in-between position and the fix was that easy! I'll always try that first if it ever happens again.