Starting over vs fixing

Forward:

For the record, i still have every computer that i've purchased new or got as a hand-me-down from my Dad who would buy a new computer every time
" something went 'wrong' " with his newest toy. Since 1987 i've only had 1 "crash" and i still have that computer since it has years of my writing, art and designs on the hard drive. i mention this because after two months of attempting to figure out why a 6 year old HP laptop is not connecting to the internet i'm thinking that it might be time for a change. The HP works well in every other way. It just won't connect to the internet.

Maybe posting here will help me see those things that i may have missed attempting to resolve the issue. If that happens it may still be time to buy something new. On the surface i like the touch screen feature of OS 8.

The HP is a DV7 17" Vista Home Premium 64 bit Intel Duo T6400

The option to select a wireless connection shows no networks. When I choose diagnose i get a window that tells me to " Turn on wireless capability " The blue light that normally tells me that the device is turned on indicates that it is turned on. In control panel/ network connections Bluetooth, Wireless Network Connection and Local Are Connection all have red X's. A network cable makes the red X disappear but " internet " is unavailable. A diagnose problem tells me that there might be a problem with the broadband modem or router. I'm connected fine with my girlfriends computer. In device manager under Network adapters there is one yellow ! mark under "avast Firewall HDIS Filter Miniport" under properties there is a code 19 and ironically suggests fixing it on the internet which i can not access.

Is this fixable perhaps buy downloading a fix to a jump drive? Or is there something else going on here?

Thanks

 

Thanks, will give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

 

Update: Did the uninstall of avast and the miniport in device manager. Since there isn't an internet connection and the clean-up tool won't copy and paste to the stick drive I seem to be stuck. n device manager Microsoft ISA TAP Adapter#3 now has an ! mark on it.

Any suggestions about next moves?

 

Can you hardwire the laptop to the router for service purposes?