Hey benjaminthomas,

I think urbanwks is on to something (above post #15). The output of your ipconfig /all command doesn't include a wireless adapter.

I'd guess that the device is either physically "turned off" when Windows boots (look for a hardware switch controlling the WiFi radio - sometimes a function key combination ...), or that the driver for the card isn't loaded properly. If it's a driver issue, have you tried reinstalling the driver ? Let us know if you don't know how to do this.

Don't give up - you'll get it working again. The fact that it works in linux is proof that the hardware functions.

I agree with Rickkkk and urbanwks. You should not need to re-install and also that the wireless adapter does not appear in the output of that IPCONFIG command. The next steps to follow are to view the control panel and view the hardware to see if the wireless adapter is not seen in the system or if there is a driver problem, once again also cited by urbanwks' post.

For future reference, please do realize there is a big difference in verbiage here. You've mentioned reboot a few times and this is not how a full re-install is generally described.

Following up from this post -

Under NETWORK ADAPTERS, the following are visible:
Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Teredo Tunneling Psuedo-Interface

The following are flagged a warning icon:
Teredo Tunneling Psuedo-Interface
and then (visible under OTHER DEVICES) Network Controller

Thanks for helping
-Ben

Thanks for the heads-up, I really need to work on talking shop when it comes to computers. I'm just glad y'all know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I, uh...can't really do anything when it comes to computers. Some pointers about driver reinstallation would be mega-appreciated.

Also, thank you guys so much for all the help, advice & support you've been giving me.

Based on what you see in Device Manager, I'd say that the "Network Controller" under "Other Devices" is your wireless card.

Do you have an ethernet cable you can hook up to get this working long enough to download a driver? If you do, it looks like drivers for your card (Realtek RTL8191SEvA Wireless LAN Controller) are in Windows update, so: From the Device Manager screen, right-click the Network Controller under "Other devices", then click "Update driver software...". Choose "Search automatically...", and follow the prompts to update the driver.

If you don't have an ethernet cable, that's fine, you'll just have to either go onto your Linux partition or another PC with internet access and download the driver installation program, put it on a USB stick/SD card/something, then boot into Windows, copy it over, and run it.

You should be able to get the driver installation package from Realtek if you need to do it this way, though I just did a quick search and couldn't find your exact model number. The "PCI Express Driver" (the second one) on this page seems to be the closest - http://www.realtek.com/downloads/dow...&GetDown=false - but I can't guarantee that it'll work. Worst case, you could install it and uninstall if it doesn't.

2 members found this post helpful.

I could've sworn I had one laying around, but when I looked I couldn't for the life of me find it, so I guess it's manual installation for me. Thanks for the link, I would've spent an age looking for the right driver. I'll stick it on a flash drive and switch to Windows now, and let y'all know what happens. Thanks again.

-Ben

So I downloaded the driver install package, transferred it to Windows, extracted it and ran the software. After a slight delay during the installation, it finished, the computer restarted, and when it rebooted the following file (see attached) was made.

When you ran the installation, did it go through steps that looked like it was installing drivers, or did it just say something along the lines of "Extracting files..."? What does your Device Manager look like now?

I stuck an image of the 2 files it made - the first after extracting, the second after installing and restarting - below, hopefully you'll get something out of that. There was an install wizard that installed the driver, so I guess it did install?

As for the Device Manager, it's identical to how I transcribed it in the previous post, nothing has changed. I can upload an image of it for y'all if it would help. Also, if I click on the icons on the manager with warning signs, it brings up a window with options such as UNINSTALL, etc. - is any of that relevant? If so, I can include that along with a shot of the device manager.

Sorry this stuff is so back-and-forth and for my general lack of knowledge, but thanks for sticking through this. Much appreciated.

With the attached image, the first file is the one I extracted from the download to my desktop, and the second is the folder in my Program Files after I ran the installer.

Ok, if you go back into Device Manager and right click on the Network Adapter under Other Devices, click "Update Driver Software...", then click "Browse my computer...", then click "Browse" and navigate to the folder you see in Program Files. Click "Next" and it should hopefully take you through some prompts to set the driver for the device.

First of all, sorry for the hiatus, I've been busy with some stuff I won't bother y'all with, and also the internet here is patchy at best. Anyways, I'm back now.

Re your instructions, urbanwks, here is the message that was displayed after following the steps:

---

Windows was unable to install your Network Controller

Windows could not find driver software for your device.
If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit its website and check the support section for driver software.

---

So, once again, a no-go.

Yeah, unfortunately this was a possibility. I don't know if you have driver discs that came with your PC, or maybe the website for the specific manufacturer of your PC might have the correct wireless driver. If you can track that down you should be able to follow the same process to install it.

No, unfortunately I've no driver discs, it was all sorted and ready to go @ the initial setup.

In re checking the manufacturers' website for driver downloads; I'll check that next, but honestly, I got this laptop going on 7 years ago and I can't remember the specifics, is there a way to check what make/modle it is? I think there's something in the W7 Control Panel, but I'm not 100%, so I figured I'd just double-check with y'all.

Once again, thanks for everything.

Hi again benjaminthomas,

Sorry to see that you're still having trouble with this. Another thing you might try is checking to see if Compaq didn't put the drivers for your hardware on your C: drive somewhere. I know that IBM/Lenovo typically did this. Look for directories under C:\ that might look like they were put there by Compaq (or HP - depending on the age of the laptop). If you do indeed find something there, it may not be the latest versions but it should be enough to get you functional again. Thereafter, a Windows Update will likely install a more current version. Odd that the driver became uninstalled ...

For extensive system information on Windows 7, including the make and model number of your system, run msinfo32.exe from a command prompt or from the "Run" box in your Start menu.

Hope this helps - let us know how you do.