Wireless adapter problems

[TheOnion]

Hello,

I have seen this problem on other forums but never found a solution.

Every time I boot up my laptop my wireless does not work. It worked fine on Vista Home premium 64bit. Once I upgraded to Windows 7 Home premium 64bit the problem started. I use the windows automatic trouble shooter to reset the wireless adapter and it fixes the problem but once I power down or reboot it comes back.

Here are the things I have done already

1. Updated the Intel 5100 Wireless adapter driver.
2. Uninstalled the wireless adapter from Device Manager and let windows redetect it.
3. Updated motherboard BIOS.
4. Changed power settings for the adapter to allow windows to power it down.
5. Bashed my head on the keyboard. This did not help.

That is about all the "solutions" i have found on other forums, including the windows 7 forums.

FYI: This is not an issue with sleep mode. It is with a cold boot or a restart.

All help is appreciated.

 

[arges86]

i doubt this will help much,
but i never commend doing an 'upgrade'
it always leaves something on the OS that can mess it up later.
You can do a full new install using a Win7 upgrade disk (thats what i did), just put Win7 on a new partition, install it, transfer files over, and get rid of the old Vista partition

 

[TheOnion]

I wish that was a possibility, but right now its not. I use the laptop for occasional work travel. My wife uses it more so a wipe and reinstall would inevitably erase something she needed and forgot to tell me to backup.

Would pictures retain their tags if they are backed up? The laptop has tons of pictures she tagged for easy sorting.

 

[das_stig]

Intel 5100 series are very reliable, as are their drivers, but in this case, I agree that a clean install should have been done, Vista to 7 normally screws up somewhere.

 

[TheOnion]

Ok well I don't want to get this thread derailed as Reinstall is the solution. Right now that is not an option. I will consider it as a last ditch option. Can anyone suggest something else for me to try?

 

[mhelm1]

Can you borrow someone elses adapter and try it out?.
I'd just buy another and see if I could get it working that way?

 

[arges86]

thats why i recommend setting up a second partition to put Win7 on. This way, you have all the time in the world to take off what you forgot from the older OS. This will leave the other operating system intact.

 

[princeofdreams]

Just a quick question? Does your network card see other networks and just fail to see yours? (if there are other networks in range that is) or does the network card just not work at all i.e. Windows does not acknowledge there is a card there at all.

If it is the former I may well have the solution, if the later I cant help sorry

 

[TheOnion]

The wireless can't see anything until i reset the adapter. Then it works fine. I took it to a coffee shop yesterday and it didn't work there either until I used the troubleshooter to reset the adapter.

 

[princeofdreams]

Hmmmm the only thing I can think it might be is that your WLAN Autoconfig is not set to automatic, and therefore not starting when windows boots, here is a link to a page that explains how to check and rectify the situation, saves me tyoing it all out plus there are screenshots to help also. Hope this helps

http://www.home-network-help.com/wlan-autoconfig-service.html

 

[TheOnion]

Sorry man but that is not it. The WLAN Autoconfig was set to automatic.

 

[princeofdreams]

You may well have tried this, but have you installed the proset wireless management utility from intel? This allows you to manage how and when your adapter connects and comes out of sleep state etc. If you haven't it would be worth a look because you can actually alter some of the settings on your adapter

Here is a link to the Win7 x64 version on the intel website,

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19149&ProdId=3062&lang=eng

Other than that I am out of ides, sorry

 

[TheOnion]

I installed the Intel wireless management utility, but I do not see where I can use it to manage how and when my adapter connects.

I see where it can run tests: It fails on the Scan test.

 

[TheOnion]

I found/stumbled upon the solution to this problem. Previously I had uninstalled the wireless adapter from device manager, but I never checked to remove the driver software. I did so and then ran a check for hardware changes. This detected the wireless adapter and reinstalled a driver.

Wireless now works at boot up. Hopefully this will continue.

Windows update wants me to update the driver, but I am hesitant. It works now so I do not want to mess with it.

Thanks for all the help and ideas.

 

[TheOnion]

Best answer selected by TheOnion.

 

[princeofdreams]

Really glad you got it sorted out Onion

 

[SCHR]

Hmmmm the only thing I can think it might be is that your WLAN Autoconfig is not set to automatic, and therefore not starting when windows boots, here is a link to a page that explains how to check and rectify the situation, saves me tyoing it all out plus there are screenshots to help also. Hope this helps

http://www.home-network-help.com/wlan-autoconfig-service.html

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this solution. I've been having issues with a 'wireless minipci in a PCI adapter' for my desktop and your suggestion fixed my problem of the card being recognized every other boot or in some cases not at all.
Cheers mate! Again, thank you!