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Resolved Question

Factory Restore MISTAKE!

by Feb 22, 2013 11:16PM PST

my nephew has a dell inspiron N7110 with windows 7.. the kid did a factory restore? on the laptop. i was able to reload windows 7 but now he has no internet access. i cant figure this one out! please help?

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disneynutsss has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer
7 Posts
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Best Answer

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You probably need a network driver
by Feb 22, 2013 11:36PM PST

Check Device Manager for Network Adapters and see if there's a ? or ! next to the entries there. If so, you need to go to the manufacturer's web site and download the driver for it.

Good luck.

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Thank you!
by disneynutsss Feb 23, 2013 3:59AM PST

Thank you all for your help. I had dowloaded all 16 drivers onto the laptop and i got an internet connection and was able to download ALL of the drivers I needed!

We are back in business and my Newphew has the BEST aunt in the world!!

He owes me, lol Happy

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Answer
missing drivers
by Feb 23, 2013 12:33AM PST

i did some kind of scan and i get a message that states:

device driver software was not successfully installed

pci simple communications controller X no driver found
ethernet controller X no driver found
network controller X no driver found
universal serial bus (USB) controller X no driver found
sm bus controller X no driver found

now i went to the dell website to get the drivers, but boy what a mess! its so confusing. anyway i tried downloading some drivers to a flash drive but the laptop doesn't recognize it, i am assuming its because it needs a USB Controller driver? i assume that i will have to download the drivers to a cd or dvd to get them on the laptop?

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A CD would work, but network is all you need
by wpgwpg Feb 23, 2013 12:40AM PST

They would probably all fit on a CD with no problem, so that might be the way to go. Usually I just get the networking driver(s), and then I can download the other drivers directly. Choices, choices. Grin

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network drivers
by disneynutsss Feb 23, 2013 12:48AM PST

there are 16 network drivers and 4 network application drivers for this laptop on the dell site... do i download them all?

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Did you put in the service tag?
by wpgwpg Feb 23, 2013 12:52AM PST

Usually when I put in the service tag for the computer in question, it narrows the driver selection down to no more than 3 or 4. Once I've done that, I do have to download and try the remaining ones and try them one by one until I find the right one.

I know trying to teach a kid the value of the ounce of prevention is swimming upstream, but if he could learn to do a full system backup to an external hard drive, that would prevent the need for the painful pound of cure. Wink

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thank you
by disneynutsss Feb 23, 2013 1:03AM PST

thanks, i will try that.

unfortunately his parents know little to nothing about computers. i am sure he had something on there (bad/virus) that wouldn't come off and instead of looking for help he thought he could do it on his own.

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