Windows doesn't recognise my hardware :/

L

LeonB

I've installed Windows XP pro SP3 because my laptop hated windows 7, I only have 1gb of ram..
But anyway, I installed it all fine, I go to try and set up a connection to the wireless, only to find out I can't.
I thought it'd be a simple driver update, so I found the drivers for my WLAN card, for xp, but when I go to install them, my WLAN card isn't listed in device manager.
There's no network adapters at all apparently.
I don't know what to do, I scanned for hardware and tried installing my WLAN drivers that way but every one gave me 'The device won't start.'

I have a Toshiba Satellite pro L450D-12x, I downgraded from Windows 7 to XP for the ram and processor to take away the massive load Win 7 puts on them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
 
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Have you tried plugging and installing an external WLAN dongle and running from that? If possible, try, if you haven't received a solution.

Perhaps there are internal issues or errors with the system due to your downgrade operation.
 
Cammygirl192 said:
Have you tried plugging and installing an external WLAN dongle and running from that? If possible, try, if you haven't received a solution.

Perhaps there are internal issues or errors with the system due to your downgrade operation.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm doing, with an elderly 2002 Dell Inspiron lappie. It never came with wireless installed, so I've had to get an external USB dongle to connect that way.

I'd recommend this one, if you can find it:-

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN725N.html

It's a TP-Link, 150 MBps N-rated 'nano' sized dongle. It's so tiny you barely notice it plugged in, so you can leave it there permanently, and I've yet to find a machine it won't work with. And the range, and signal strength are quite.....astonishing.

Hope that helps.


Mike. ;)
 
Hi, Elizabeth.

No, I can't..! It's not a driver issue. Whole reason is that the 2002/3 Inspiron 1100 was never supplied with the wireless card and antennae that its big brother, the 5100, came with as standard. The hardware was never there in the first place.

The only network connection it came with was the Broadcom Ethernet card. Which works well, but you can't take that out into the garden, can you? We bought this thing from Dell, back in the days when they sold direct to the public.....and I didn't know half as much about the hardware side of things as I do now. I would have gone for the 5100 in the first place.

Anyway, after various hardware upgrades over the years, it now sports a higher spec than its big brother ever could. Including not only the Pentium 4, but also 2GB RAM (which everybody says is impossible, but the 845 chipset does support it, and I've proved it!)....and currently, a 64 GB PATA/IDE interface solid state drive.

I triple-boot; Win XP, and two 'Puppies'. The Pup's feet don't touch the ground, and even XP is a lot more nimble than the original install ever was.....

These things used a full, desktop Celeron/Pentium 4, which could be swapped out. The current ultra-low power mobile CPUs weren't even on the drawing board in those days....much less a reality. Hence the huge, 17V, 7500 mAh battery pack.....which accounts for a big chunk of the all-in weight of nearly 8 lbs..!

My 'big' 2004/5 Compaq Presario PC boots Win XP and five Pups. And they all talk to each other, and share stuff over the network, via SAMBA. The setup works for me.


Mike. ;)
 
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The information was very much appreciated, Liz.....and if it had simply been a driver issue, I would probably have sorted it out some years ago.

Unfortunately, no amount of driver software is ever going to make non-existent hardware function! And as for service tags; (*cough*), well; when XP went EOL, it was removed from the Dell. For the last two years the Dell has hosted many different Linux distros.....I stripped all the Windows stickers off the chassis, and binned them!

I only restored XP to the old girl about 3 months ago.....and was pleasantly surprised at how much better it ran with the hardware upgrades I'd carried out in the meantime. How's this for original specs; 'NetBurst' Celeron @ 1.8 GHz, 128 MB of RAM, and a 20 GB hard drive??? Trying to accomplish anything with XP in the early days, sheesh.....I think paint dried quicker. A slug could have beaten it across the line. How Dell ever got away with selling a combination like that, I will never know. It was criminal..! :D

Yes, at 8 lbs they're no lightweights. And that Pentium's heat output from the vent does a fair approximation of a hot-air paint stripper! But it's built like a tank.....and has the best keyboard I've ever found, for feel, and touch-typing.

Here's to the next 14 yrs!


Mike. ;)
 
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I have a TP-Link WN823N USB for my Vista and it work very good, I would recommend them.
They are some highly low-class specifications indeed - it reminds me of the fact when Vista was being sold under 512 and 768 MB of RAM when it require 1 GB to run decently.
My ZG5 Acer Aspire One always ran better on XP and better battery life than any Linux distro I ever tried in it, which is why I restored it.
 
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