Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Lost Internet Capabilities

by Dec 30, 2012 12:11PM PST

I have a second Dell Inspiron laptop that I planned on giving to my niece for Christmas. It has Windows Vista. I reformatted it so it would be as new for my niece. Before I reinstalled Windows the laptop had internet and wireless connections. Afterwards I am unable to connect to the internet. It cannot find any networks even though I have that available and use with my other laptop and could should be able to connect to it but I can't. I installed all drivers and such from all the disks and it still claims there's no internet connections. What do I do now?

Discussion is locked

10 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Answer
WiFi Switch
by Dec 30, 2012 12:32PM PST

You haven't mentioned if you've checked the common things first. There should be an WiFi indicator light on the laptop; if so, be sure it's lit. There is likely a switch or function key which turns the WiFi on/off. The switch is usually located around the edge of the laptop somewhere.

- Collapse -
WiFi
by Skittlebrain Dec 30, 2012 4:34PM PST

Yes I have checked the WiFi switch and it's not lit and I can't get it to turn on. When I go to Network adapters and try to update the drivers for ethernet it tells me I must contact the manufacturer which is Dell. I am assuming Dell has some kind of protection where you can't fix these things yourself? I've owned this laptop for a couple years and it's been great and I've never had a problem until I reinstalled Windows.
Jenny

- Collapse -
Dell doesn't have some kind of protection
by glb613 Dec 30, 2012 8:48PM PST

installed. Uninstall the network adapter through the device manager, reboot and let Windows reinstall it. If you don't have the correct drivers, you'll get an error message and there will be a yellow exclamation point next to the device. Go to Dell.com, service and support, enter your service tag number and get the correct drivers.

- Collapse -
Uninstalled
by Skittlebrain Dec 30, 2012 10:31PM PST

the network adapter and when rebooted the system found it but a message came up it was unable to find the drivers to install. Ok thanks I'll see what can be done via Dell.com
Jenny

- Collapse -
Answer
Did you install the WiFi driver?
by Dec 30, 2012 10:23PM PST

Did you check Device Manager to see if there's a driver installed for the network adapters? Since some laptops use a physical switch for WiFi and some use a combination of the Fn key a one of the numbered F keys, you need to be sure you installed the driver from Dell for that as well.

Good luck.

- Collapse -
Driver
by Skittlebrain Dec 30, 2012 10:35PM PST

I did and there is/are drivers installed for the network adaptor that I uninstalled as per the previous post tip then restarted and it said it was unable to locate any drivers. Thanks for telling me about the keys as I wasn't aware of that and I need all the luck I can get with this!!!
Jenny

- Collapse -
try connecting with
by itsdigger Dec 31, 2012 12:57AM PST

an ethernet cable and reload drivers at Dell's website. Just a thought ..Digger

- Collapse -
Ethernet and drivers
by Skittlebrain Dec 31, 2012 1:14AM PST

I can't connect to the internet to download the drivers but thanks Digger!
Jenny

- Collapse -
Answer
You need to ...
by Dec 31, 2012 9:20AM PST

go to this link and enter the laptop's service tag number to get all the proper drivers required. Probably need a second connected computer to do this then download all the proper drivers to a CD or even better a flash drive so you can install them on the problem PC.

You should also find the Dell Quickset utility if it is available for your model of laptop. This link tells you a bit about it:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/latd520/en/ug_en/quickset.htm

Now, having said that are you certain that you do not still have the recovery partition Dell installed on your laptop? I know you mentioned reformatting but if you didn't mess with the partitions you may still have it and this link might help:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?docid=266618

- Collapse -
Thank you
by Skittlebrain Jan 1, 2013 4:52AM PST

for your links and advice..they are great. I will get a flash drive tomorrow. I did recheck for the recovery partition but can't find anything other than the date I reformatted it and nothing previous. I'll let you know how everything goes.
Jenny

Back to Computer Help forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info