Question System not recognizing my network controller

Vlad Alexandru_1

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Apr 12, 2016
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Hey guys

I recently tried to fix an old laptop, a lenovo thinkpad t43, everything was going great but after i installed the windows, i was unable to turn on the wi fi, so i checked in the device manager and the network controller is placed under the other devices tab and i can't seem to find the right driver for it. If any of you have had the same problem or know the driver that i need, please let me know.
 
When you download the Thinkpad driver you sometimes have to manually load the driver. After the download and you double click the install file, pay attention to where the driver is downloaded, often c:\ Drivers or C:\Windows\Drivers\win. Go to the wifi controller in device manager, usually a yellow question mark and double click the device> update driver. At the Hardware Update Wizard , Search for Driver, choose "No not this time" and click Next. At What do you want the Wizard to do, choose "Install from a list or specific location" and click Next. Use the Browse button to go to the location here the drivers where downloaded. (sometimes they will be in a sub group of xp, w2kxp or similar. Click on the appropriate sub folder and you should see the Okay button darken, meaning it has found an .inf file and click Okay several times to load the driver. If the inf file doesn't work search for another that does, and or check for another wifi driver download. You might also want to load the Ethernet driver the same way.
 
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Vlad Alexandru_1

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So, i was busy the past few days so i didn't get to try and fix it. I tried installing the drivers you guys suggested but to no avail. Also i think i forgot to mention that the ethernet driver works, just the wlan one doesn't work
 
Confirm you downloaded the wireless Lan drivers. Further, how is the wireless Lan described in Device Manager; confirm it appears as a yellow triangle? Did the Device Manager find any drivers to install and they simply didn't work, or has the Device Managers have not found any drivers at all?
 

Vlad Alexandru_1

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Confirm you downloaded the wireless Lan drivers. Further, how is the wireless Lan described in Device Manager; confirm it appears as a yellow triangle? Did the Device Manager find any drivers to install and they simply didn't work, or has the Device Managers have not found any drivers at all?
I have installed the thinkpad drivers and it still doesn't recognize the network controller. I tried your method where i'd remember where i have the drivers installed and then try to do a manual installation but it didn't work either. In the device manager it appears as a yellow question mark with an exclamation sign in a circle on it and it's under the Other devices category.

PS: i tried a program called drivertalent which claimed to be able to install all the required drivers but it would only mess with the pc and the installation never finished so i closed it and then i deleted everything related to that program
 

Vlad Alexandru_1

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Apr 12, 2016
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I have installed the thinkpad drivers and it still doesn't recognize the network controller. I tried your method where i'd remember where i have the drivers installed and then try to do a manual installation but it didn't work either. In the device manager it appears as a yellow question mark with an exclamation sign in a circle on it and it's under the Other devices category
U never mention what version of Windows ur running. I notice by the link given all the drivers are for XP, 2000 blah-blah OLD-OLD stuff. The WLAN hardware may had never been updated for W7, W10.
It's win xp professional with the 3 service pack
 
When you double click on the yellow question mark what information does it give about the wifi adapter? To better identify your adapter see if any of these work https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/which-wlan-driver


I checked out the drivers for your Thinkpad t43 and there are two; 7kwc50ww for an Intel Wifi adapter and the 7ywc54ww for an IBM wifi adapter and installed them both on my Thinkpad R50.

The 7KWC50ww driver package requires a manual install, with the drivers residing at C:\Drivers\Win\Wlanint2\XP\Drivers\x32. When you browse to the x32 folder, it should activate the Okay button, even if it is the wrong driver. 7ywc54ww file is a full install program that does not require manually loading the driver.

If these don't work than it'd possible you wifi adapter is non-functional. Good luck Jim!
 
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