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11888
March 20th, 2010 06:00
Wireless card refuses to enable
I have a customer with an Inspiron 1721 and the wireless card refuses to enable. We've reloaded Vista, the WiFi switch is on and the WiFi light is lit. If you try to enable it goes through the motions, indicates that the device has been enabled but the device itself indicates that it's not enabled. This is confirmed by the fact that it cannot find any wireless networks. Another concern is that I attempted to install a Trendnet Wireless N USB NIC and even though it indicates that it's enabled, it still can't find the wireless networks that my notebooks have no trouble finding. Is this hardware or Vista causing this problem and what can I try beyond the usual troubleshooting.
Davet50
6 Operator
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14.4K Posts
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March 20th, 2010 06:00
disable any virus and firewall software. try to connect.
Boot into Safe Mode with Network support and see if you can connect.
Davet50
6 Operator
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14.4K Posts
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March 20th, 2010 17:00
you might want to also try reinstalling the driver.
telecide
4 Posts
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March 20th, 2010 17:00
Disabled security software: Cannot enable wireless 1395 WLAN
Start in safe mode: Also cannot enable wireless 1395 WLAN
Another interesting symptom: I tried to install 2 other USB wireless adapters. A Trendnet TEW-649UB and a Linksys WUSB54GC. Both would enable but could not detect any of the 5 APs that my own laptops could locate. I'm beginning to think this might be a Vista update issue.
telecide
4 Posts
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March 20th, 2010 18:00
Yeah. I did that to. No change.
telecide
4 Posts
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March 22nd, 2010 16:00
Found the solution. I wiped out the drive and did a fresh install of Vista x86. After making sure the wireless card was working, I started running Windows updates. The last 3 I installed all at once were KB974470, KB971644, & KB976264. That's when I lost the APs and could no longer enable the WiFi card. I ran system restore to clear the previous updates and everything worked again. Then I installed the aforementioned updates one at a time, rebooting between each and in the order previously listed. That was it. Card enabled, APs found.
THE END.