connected to wireless but can't use internet

Question

All was working fine until my husband blew a circut breaker. I was working on my computer and lost my photoshop work but that isn't the worst of things. Suddenly my internet no longer worked. All laptops and the other desktop in my house worked. After calling my ISP provider we went through all kinds of steps including pinging them and finally pinging yahoo.com to find it didn't work. I was told it is my computer and I probably have a corrupt network or corrupt software. The problem is only on my dell pc. I use a wireless adapter on my machine. I can see that the network is on and working but I can't connect up to it. I was also told by this tech person that I was probably not smart enough to fix the problem myself so I should take it to the geek squad. Well that got my dander up. I may know how to fix this problem but if someone points me in the right direction I think I can. So that is why I am here for help. So far this is what I have done:

ran malware bytes and super anti spyware

I usually use firefox so today I tried IE and it doesn't work either....of course my outlook will not hook up to the internet so no email

ran disk cleanup

I'm not really sure what to do so I am hoping someone can help me so I don't have to reformat my computer. Thanks for any and all help!

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,

What channel are you using in your wireless router?

Try using these Recommended Wireless Router Settings, I use channel 11.

Try How to repair a connection. WinSock XP Fix may be able to fix your computer. Works with Vista and Windows 7, also.

Rick

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach ,   Use system restore and go back to the first restore point before the power failure.     Rick

mnarteach · Answer

Pudgyone......my router is from my ISP.  They reconfiged it etc. last night.  I don't know how I would find a channel.  I will give the winfix a try and see what happens.

mnarteach · Answer

it was qwest and they did it from their end.  I was told they were resetting it as it had gotten reset when the power went out.

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,

When they reconfigured the router, was it turned off for 30 seconds, then turned back on?

If you know the password, then...

How to login to your wireless router

In there are the way to change the settings.

Rick

mnarteach · Answer

They had me change my network name will reverting back cause additional problems for those in my house.  My daughter is takng college courses online and must be connected when she gets home from work.

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,

Reverting back with system restore will bring back any problems that happened during the power outage.

All your daughter will need to do is locate your new network name and enter the password to connect.

Rick

mnarteach · Answer

I ran the winsock fx and then my network had a big red x over it yet when I viewed wireless connections it said I was connected to mine.

mnarteach · Answer

will my network name be the new one or the old one?

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,   Your network name will be the new one. With the new password you were given, to connect.     Rick

mnarteach · Answer

something I noticed tonight which I don't know if it means anything or not but in network connections the local area connection has a red x on it.  I also ave a local area connection with the router showing and then the wireless connection.  The one with the red x if I go to properties is the NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller.  Someplace along the way to that windo it said that the NVIDIA was disconnected.  Does this make a difference?

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,

Please bear with me as I use wireless at home all the time.

I cannot remember if it's when you're connected with the ethernet cable or with the wireless adapter, I think it's with the ethernet cable, you might see a red x on the connection icon near clock. This would be normal as you cannot connect to both wired and wireless at the same time.

It's strange the you say NVIDIA was disconnected. You may want to ask this in the Dell Laptop Video Forum, since this is a video driver.

Rick

mnarteach · Answer

well I did a system restore and now my internet is working again.  However a windows installer keeps coming up  and trying to do something and then failing.  I had upgraded my microsoft office to office 2010 and after I turned things back my office will not work at all.  I don't know how to fix this and feel like I've just created a big mess.  Can you lead me to what I should do now??? thanks

PudgyOne · Answer

mnarteach,

I'm not sure if you have to uninstall Office, then restart your computer. Then install Office from scratch or if there is a repair option. I think there might be a repair option, if you use the Office disk. I use Open Office, it's like Microsoft Office but FREE.

Rick

cpyue · Answer

First, try to hook up your laptop with a Network Cable, then connect to internet. If this did not work, then is your laptop's hardware problem.

Luckily if it worked, that mean you just lost your Wireless Router Pass Key in your laptop memory (cookie). Follow steps below:

(In Windows XP): click START / click MY NETWORK PLACE / click SETUP A HOME OR SMALL OFFICE NETWORK, follow all steps until they ask you to put in the PASS KEY (which is for your Wireless Router). Enter the correct Pass Key and continue till this procedure completed. Hope this will work.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

connected to wireless but can't use internet

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