I was recently called out to a client’s home to help connect a Windows XP laptop to their wireless network. The laptop had been able to connect wirelessly in the past but for some reason it had stopped working. My client had already spoken to his Internet Service Provider and Linksys. Both were unable to resolve his problem. Sure enough, it was a rather strange and unexpected one.
When I arrived on site, we started the laptop and tried scanning for wireless networks. To scan for wireless networks, follow the instructions in the caption below:
Control Panel -> Network Connections -> Right Click On Wireless Adapter -> View Available Wireless Networks
This process should show any wireless networks that are within range of the laptop. But on my client’s laptop, there were no detected networks in the list. I tried to refresh the list but still found nothing. For some reason, the wireless card was not detecting any networks.
I started my own laptop to see if there were actually any networks in range. Sure enough, when I scanned with my own computer, about five wireless networks were detected, including my client’s wireless router.
So why was my client’s laptop not detecting any networks?
After fiddling about for just under ten minutes I decided to try re-installing the driver for the wireless card. That was the solution! After reinstalling the driver, the laptop was able to detect and connect to their wireless router!
If you’re experiencing a similar problem, follow these steps:
*** Caution: In my experience, 99% of the time Windows XP will automatically reinstall a removed driver upon reboot. However, there is a small chance you’d have to get the driver from a disk or the manufacturer’s website. ***
First of all, right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Properties” from the menu.
Right-click On My Computer And Select Properties
Select the “Hardware” tab and click the “Device Manager” button.
Select The "Hardware" Tab And Click On "Device Manager"
Now the device manager will open. To uninstall the wireless driver, click the ‘+’ sign beside “Network adapters”. Then, right-click on the wireless adapter and select “Uninstall” from the menu.
Right-click On The Wireless Adapter And Select "Uninstall"
Click on “OK” when the warning comes up asking if you really want to uninstall the driver. It should disappear from the list. You can close all the open windows.
To reinstall the driver, all you have to do is reboot the computer. Windows XP will detect the wireless adapter as it reboots and reinstall the driver.
Windows XP Will Re-Install The Wireless Driver
In the unlikely case that Windows XP doesn’t have the driver for your adapter in its database, you’ll have to download it from the manufacturer’s website.
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