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Question

No wireless connection after factory restore

Mar 28, 2018 12:16PM PDT

Hi. Im hoping someone might be able to help me. My Gateway SX2855 froze and would no longer boot up so I ended up doing a factory restore.

Everything looks great except there is no option for a wireless connection any longer. I had the free upgrade to Windows 10 but it is now back to the old version of 7 which the PC came with.

My network adapter shows as working but not connected, and there is no option other than LAN in change adapter settings. I've searched all over but no suggestions have helped so far.

Some said to upgrade Windows, but i would like to have an idea that it could help before spending the money. I'm just at a loss and would really appreciate any advice anyone might have. Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The usual is
Mar 28, 2018 12:34PM PDT

Post was last edited on March 28, 2018 12:36 PM PDT

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Thanks so much.
Mar 28, 2018 4:01PM PDT

So it's the drivers? I did check the drivers for the adapter and that was said to be fine but I really am not super knowledgeable when it comes to computers so it can seem pretty confusing. The only thing is that I can't download directly to my pc since I can't get online, but I guess I could transfer It? I did see where there are discs you can buy with drivers, etc... Do you think that would work?

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How did you check the drivers?
Mar 28, 2018 5:17PM PDT

Here it's more work to check drivers than to just download and install the motherboard then the WiFi drivers.

As to Windows 10, many questions but here's the usual answers.

Your PC is digitally entitled to run W10. Google up "Microsoft Media Creation Kit" and there are articles how to make a W10 install DVD or USB (USB is preferred here.) Then the next question about it fixing this has me write no. W10 is no better at finding drivers than prior versions of Windows. I continue to do driver hunts, and installs.

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In device manager
Mar 28, 2018 5:45PM PDT

I checked the network adapter where it says update driver software and it says the best driver software is already installed. Are those the correct drivers or is there something else?

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That rarely works.
Mar 28, 2018 5:47PM PDT

Unless you own a Microsoft Surface PC.

Do this the old fashioned way. Head to the maker's web page for drivers and get them there. Then install them.

In this case I want the motherboard chipset and the WiFi driver packages.

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Answer
Re: no wireless connection
Mar 28, 2018 12:38PM PDT

Indeed, https://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-sx2855-ur21p-sff-core-i3-2100-3-1-ghz-6-gb-1-5-tb/specs/ shows it came with a wireless connection (which is quite an exception for a desktop). But to really connect you have to tell Windows what router to connect to. Until you do that there is no connection, but there should be an option to select one if you click on the wireless icon in the notification area.

- Do you see that icon?
- if not, is the WLAN Autoconfig service running? (see https://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/71993-how-enable-windows-wireless-service.html )
- If not, what happens if you start it?

Anyway, if you upgraded to Windows 10, there's no need to pay for Windows 10. Just download and install it. No license key required. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 tells how. You can just run setup.exe from the disc or stick you make, or even from the .iso-file if you have a program to 'mount' it as a virtual disc.

Didn't you make a recovery drive? We recommend to do that. Might work next time. See https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10/how-to-create-a-recovery-drive-for-reinstalling/58df9c7d-84de-4652-9952-8bac34abc6c5 .

Post was last edited on March 28, 2018 12:44 PM PDT

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Thank you.
Mar 28, 2018 4:15PM PDT

I followed the instructions from the link and it says that WLAN Autoconfig is started and automatic. When I go into change adapter settings there is LAN with a red X and nothing else, no wireless option.

I only have my tablet and laptop so didn't think I would be able to make the Windows discs on there but maybe on the laptop. You don't think that just installing an updated version of Windows would solve the problem? If it is the drivers could that fix those? I just figured that a factory restore would bring it back to like new when there were no issues.

I made the recovery discs from Gateway but not Windows unfortunately.

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Re: no wireless connection
Mar 29, 2018 12:41AM PDT

You were quite right in thinking as you did.

It starts to look as a hardware issue. Try a new wireless card or wireless USB dongle.