My laptop works with ethernet cable but not wireless card

[mequevilley]

i was on the internet one night and all the suddon i was not able to view wireless networks..it said a network cable is unplugged, but i dont use any cables i have a wireless card...now i plugged in a ethernet cable directly from my router and i can connect just fine to the internet..i ran a ipconfig and it says media disconnected..i dont get it, has my card gone to crap?

 

[wolftux]

That's tough to say, as there are a number of things that could have happened which would cause the OS to report a cable unplugged. First of all (I'm asking because I see this all the time where I work), does your laptop have a hardware switch for the wireless card on the chassis somewhere that could have been turned off? This will cause the OS to report an unplugged cable. Second, is the Device Manager still reporting that the wireless card is installed? This might cause your issue as well. Finally, have you tried resetting your router and your wireless settings on the laptop? It might have just lost it's connection/settings, and could easily be fixed by "reconfiguring" the system.

If all seems well, what I would do in your case is the following: connect with the cable to your router and download the latest wireless device drivers for whatever wireless card you're using. Then go into your Device Manager and remove the wireless card from your computer. Next, install the drivers that you just downloaded and see if that brings the thing back to life.