Reconnect to wireless

I'm trying to connect my old dell D505 to the wireless internet in our house. The connection is fine with the other computers in the house, but with this laptop i've just replaced the hdd, so it's likely to be related to that - it would connect before. i've tried running the network set up wizards (but as usual they fail me) any ideas as to what i can do to fix this?

 

At what step in the process do you run into trouble?

And, I'm assuming you've run through the standard gamut: Device Manager, proxy settings, correct login, etc.?

 

i've been into the device manager, and found a couple of '!' (see attachment), but the thing thats puzzling me is that it says it is connected, but yet the internet (IE8) doesnt work - you know the standard 'Internet explorer cannot display webpage'. the ! on device manager say i need to install the drivers, but surely i need to connect to the internet to find these!? :confused

settings are all on default, and passwords are right, so its not these.
thanks for the help

 

update... have tried plugging in the ethernet cable, but that didn't work either :confused

 

You've got to get that ethernet card fired up - what's your OS, SP#, make and model# of the card? If you've got onboard audio and ethernet, get into BIOS and make sure everything's enabled.

You might consider uninstalling the PCI modem if you're not going to use it. Also, what's the Firewire being used for?

 

Windows XP sp2. Dell Latitude D505 (laptop). not sure about the card... if you give me some instruction as to where to find this, i could tell you. sorry. but it was the one we bought it with years ago

firewire? i don't know. My Uncle set it up (installed new hdd), and sent it back to me like this :confused all i can tell you is that it certainly isn't plugged into anything. from my understanding of firewire, it would need to be cable linked wouldn't it?

 

Ok - can you find the Dell Service Tag #? We need to make sure we're going to download the correct software for your machine.

And, you mentioned installing a new HD - do you have the original recovery disks?

 

no sorry, and the old hdd is properly shot so no chance of retreiving anything off there

service tag: BPG341

 

Strange: Dell doesn't seem to recognize that service tag #.

Meanwhile, let's try a long shot: navigate to this page, download the file (I'd suggest the 'download via your browser' option), and install it. Reboot the machine, and let us know if Device Manager shows any change.

 

ahh oopsy.. missed the J off the end :-o sorry

 

That does make a difference - if I'm reading this right, you have a Wireless 1350 WLAN PC Card (driver here) - let's try this file first.

 

the link doesn't work

 

Try this page, Dell likes using javascript links

 

Ah, sorry - I think I'm having cookie problems.

Satrow beat me to it - damn javascript!

 

yay it works
is there a specific place i should be saving it? I've got it onto my flash drive, was just thinking if theres anywhere in particular it should be on the laptop

 

wahoo!! we have connection thank you very much

i saved it in 'drivers' btw

 

You are connected to the internet and able to surf with the D505? If so, good job. You might want to verify: reboot, fire up your browser to make sure everything's kosher.

How about the flags in Device Manager?

 

yep able to surf with the laptop - i posted my last message from that just to check did a reboot and all seems fine, apart from the desktop documents - file sharing shizz: connected to internet, my network places, and all the desktop things that normally come up are marked as 'unknown file/folder type' so i can't open any of them

didn't check device manager, but i have all of tonight free when i get back later this afternoon, so will have a look then.

 

The basic networking issues are sorted, I think (exc. for your Network Places/Sharing), time to take a rest before tying up the loose ends

Looks like your Uncle copied your old Desktop and Documents over, you'll need to reinstall your old software to fix the filetypes.

 

this is what my uncle said to me...

he didn't actually take anything from the old hdd, and i haven't done anything with it but laugh and cry at the rattling sound it makes :-o

by desktop, i mean coming through the wireless connection from the main pc to the laptop. usually the D and E drives are there (music and photos). i was a bit puzzled at this because it should just be drives with music mostly mp3 and photos - jpegs. :confused

device manager now has one less ! , i know how to get rid of the multimedia one (i deleted the driver once before by accident rolleyes) just left with the pci modem. not a clue what this does...

 

Ok, I'm getting a better handle on things now

For your file/folder sharing across the network, you'll need to setup a password for your Windows login (and autologin via Tweakui, if you don't mind being less secure), if the PC has the same name as previously and your User name and PW are also the same, it may then auto-connect and allow sharing as before.

The PCI modem doesn't need installing, it's for dial-up networking and you're now on cable or ADSL but you can still download the drivers from Dell and get it working if you want.