I need help...

[JMBrown]

I'll preface by saying that Ive searched the forums and came up empty...

Alright, so my parents just switched ISP's, they got their computers online, all was well. I wasnt there the day that it happened so when I got home, they had to set my laptop up. My computer picked up the network and I tried to connect but I didnt have the password and neither did they. They called tech support and via phone, they ran all throughout my computer changing God knows what... It didnt work...

NOW; my computer wont pick up any networks anywhere. None. Not home, not my friends house 37 miles away- nothing. The switch is ON too.

When I ask Windows to diagnose the problem, it tells me "Wireless capability on this computer is turned off. Turn on wireless capability"

I have no idea what got changed and I need help trouble shooting ideas on what could possibly be keeping my computer from picking up networks...


Im lost and any help is greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks in advance!

-J

 

[elton-77]

Have you looked in Device Manager to see if there is a conflict with the actual wireless card?

 

[JMBrown]

Im not quite sure how to. Lol

How would I go about doing that?

 

[elton-77]

Open 'Control Panel' then select 'Device Manager'. When you do this the User Account Control will ask for your permission to do this .... press continue for the device manager to open.

You are now looking at all the 'devices' that make your laptop run efficiently but the one we're interested in is the Network Adaptor.

Firstly, does it show a yellow question mark on the icon? If so there is a problem of some description that will need to be addressed.
Secondly, click on the 'plus' sign to the left of the Network Adaptor icon, highlight the Wireless Network Connection. Right click on it and look at Properties. Under the General Tag does it say it's working properly?

If so, you can just cancel out of that and try removing it by right clicking again and Uninstall it. After uninstall, you can Scan for Plug and Play components and it will reinstall. Perhaps this will cure it.

To scan and reinstall look at the Icons beneath the File Action View and Help dropdowns. One of these is the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon. Press this icon and it will reinstall the Network Adaptor and hopefully it will be okay. If not post the results back and I'll see where we go from here.