Possible Network Card and/or Driver Problem & Battery Problem Too

Hi,

I'm getting help in the malware forum fixing a horrible mess on my niece's computer (made worse by the attempts at fixing it done by my brother-in-law before my niece begged me for help). FYI, that is this thread: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=268192

I'm not certain if this falls under hardware or software so I posted here first.

I think that one of the problems is a hardware/software issue brought about when my brother-in-law decided to "wipe" the computer. The problem with this was that he did it without actually having any back-up disks. Luckily, he didn't actually wipe everything, but I do think he may have wiped some drivers. I can't use the Dell cloud to do a reinstall because the computer won't connect to the internet and it was never previously registered.

Right now I think that the network card may not have any drivers. I'm not sure how to find out what the specs on the network card are or where I might be able to find the drivers.

I also think whatever program/drivers deal with battery management were wiped because the computer is not recognizing/reading the battery so if the computer is unplugged, it just turns off.

Any help with this would be appreciated (and also will make the malware removal process much easier -- right now I have to burn CDs to/from another machine to do anything requiring uploading or downloading.)

Thanks.

 

On the back (desktop) or bottom (notebook) of the PC, there should be a Dell service code (usually a combination of 7 or 8 numbers and letters).

Go to www.dell.com, click on the technical support option and enter the service code number. A list of drivers will come up. Be sure to filter them by the version of Windows installed on the PC.

You can do this on a working PC (any brand) and save the downloaded driver files to a USB flash drive or save and burn them to a CD to install on the Dell.

As for the battery not charging, how old are the PC and battery? Unless you're getting a message at the BIOS post to the effect of "The AC adapter is not recognized. A a result, the battery will not charge", you likely have a bad battery. If you want to replace it, look on Amazon: Highly rated replacement batteries there are up to 60% less than Dell or major retailers charge.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the assistance. I will check out the Dell site tomorrow when I get the laptops and external CD up on the table again. (They were taken down for dinner and I'm just on mine now.)

I am getting a message about not recognizing the battery. I will get the exact location/message/wording tomorrow.

 

I downloaded the available drivers and reinstalled the one for the network card and for the Wireless Enable/Disable App. I couldn't get the battery one to run, or actually it wanted to remove rather than install the program so I didn't run it. Should I try to update/run any of the others listed below?

As for the battery, I get the following message on bootup:
WARNING: The battery cannot be identified.
This system will be unable to charge this battery.
Strike F1 key to continue.

The battery problem emerged exactly in time with the malware issue so it could either be related to that or related to something my brother-in-law did trying to fix things. (He actually created more of a mess with what he did.)

Thanks for the help.


Dell Wireless Enable / Disable, Wireless Enable / Disable Application, v.V0.1.0.15, A06 (Application)
Release Date: 10/16/2009
File Name: R229452.exe

Dell Battery Meter/Wireless Select Switch, v.V0.0.0.10C, A02
Release Date: 10/12/2009
File Name: R232390.exe

Dell Wireless Enable / Disable, Wireless Enable / Disable Application, v.V0.1.0.15, A07 (Utility)
Release Date: 10/9/2009
File Format: Hard-Drive
File Name: R230152.exe

Dell Caps Lock Application, v.0.1.0.2, A01
Release Date: 4/5/2009
File Name: R215168.EXE

Realtek ALC269 HD Audio, v.5.10.0.5798, A03
Release Date: 8/27/2009
File Name: R215165.EXE

Dell Inspiron 1010 System BIOS, A11
Release Date: 10/29/2009
File Name: R246063.exe

Dell Inspiron 1010 System BIOS, A04
Dell Inspiron 1010 System BIOS update (DOS Only)
File Format: Non-Packaged
File Name: R220565.EXE

Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version), v.A1358A2/A0478, A1358A2
Release Date: 6/30/2009
File Name: CW1358A2.exe

Dell Wireless WLAN 1397 Half MiniCard (4312bg), Wireless WLAN 1510 Half MiniCard (4322), Dell Wireless 1397, 1510 Half MiniCard, v.5.10.79.7, A24
Release Date: 4/23/2009
File Name: R210424.exe

Dell Function Keys, v.V0.1.0.6, A02
Release Date: 10/16/2009
File Name: R232385.exe

Intel Graphics_Media 945GSE/GM965, v.6.14.10.1098, A01
Release Date: 10/9/2009
File Name: R216014.exe