[SOLVED] Wireless problems in Windows 7

[rman1943]

I have a Dell Inspiron 3521 that had Windows 10 installed. It is a 64-bit system. I have a piece of software that I use every day. It will only operate on 32-bit. I have a legal copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit. I have just installed it, but wireless networking won't work. When I look at Device Manager, the only network adapters installed are 2 Bluetooth devices. When I look at Other devices, it tells me that Network Controller, PCI Simple Communications Controller, SM Bus controller, Universal Serial Bus Controller and USB2.0 CRW do not have installed drivers. I've gone to Dell's website and can't locate 32-bit drivers for any of these items. Anyone have an idea how I can solve this mess?

 

[rman1943]

I guess you can disregard this post. I found on Dell's website that Dell does not support Windows 7 32-bit OS. This is strange, because I have successfully installed Windows 7 Home Premium on an Acer 64-bit desktop.

 

[Math Geek]

dell not supporting it does not mean it won't install. it just means they won't be making any drivers for all the parts of those models.

however, this does not mean you can't get drivers. often if you go to the specific site for a part, the drivers will be there. for instance, dell may not make ethernet drivers but the part is likely an off the shelf broadcom part. that site will likely have the driver which will work fine. it may take a while but you can usually track down drivers one at a time this way to get it all working.

i've only found a few things that i absolutely can't get win 7 drivers for. they are mostly igp drivers from what i have seen.

start figuring out the specific part number for what is not working and i'll bet you can track down a driver on that manufacturers page.

 

[rman1943]

Thanks for the info. I’ll give it a try.

 

[Math Geek]

usually a close look at the mobo will reveal part numbers for things like ethernet, wireless/bt, audio chip and so on.

do beware though of any drivers that come from any of those driver "archive" sites. the only thing they offer are virus's/malware/bad stuff

go to the manufacturer's site and get from there. any place else is only asking for problems!!

 

[rman1943]

Thanks for the tip!