Atheros AR8151 glitch

I did a complete wipe of my laptop and reinstalled Windows 7, and then used the Alienware DVD to reinstall all the drivers. They all worked fine except for the Atheros AR8151 Gigabit Ethernet controller. It says that it is missing an INF file, when I reinstall/repair/modify it. I have wireless internet turned on and I set the driver to 100mbps in device manager, but it didn't change anything. Please help- I've been stuck on this for a while now.

 

Here: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]. This is for the wired LAN adapter, not the wireless card.

 

I used that and overwrote the other one- but it gave me ERROR 40: 1 or more of the files were not successfully unzipped. Any Idea what's that all about/what I should do about it?

 

Sorry, I don't. After I saw your post, I downloaded the same file and double-clicked on it. It unpacked cleanly with no errors or messages and launched the Install Wizard. Maybe try disabling your AV program long enough to get the file unzipped and installed. Or try a new D/L; it's a busy world out there on the Net, and packets can get dropped or corrupted. Good luck.

 

ah well, thanks for the advice, I'll have o see what I can do about that. I'll probably need the link that you sent me to- just have to figure out what is the error 40

EDIT: The file that you linked me to is actually te same one I was using before to try to install it. I tried again and it unzipped the files fine, but when I tried to Install the driver- It still said inf file missing

I also found a download link for it here: Download Dell M17xR3 Atheros AR8151 - AW 1.0.0.36, A00 for Win 7 64-bit but it doesn't ley me open the file HELP PLEASE

 

What does it do to stop you from opening the file? I downloaded the file that you linked to above. It appears to be identical to the Dell driver file. When I double click on the downloaded file, it confirms the language selection, suggests a location for the unzipped drivers and files and asks for confirmation. When you confirm, it unzips the file to the selected location with no further user intervention. Not much can go wrong. Where is the process breaking down for you? Check the Control Panel>Uninstall a Program screen; if there is an entry for Atheros drivers (or anything), uninstall it. Then go to c:\Dell\Drivers or wherever else you store Dell driver files and delete the folder R289538. Then try again unpacking the D/L'ed file. None of the foregoing should make any difference, but it can't hurt. Otherwise, I don't know why it's not working properly.

Edit: Error 40 is apparently caused by damaged Windows files or broken system structures. To check system files, open an elevated command prompt (DOS session) by going to Start>Run, then enter "cmd" (no quotes) in the box and hit Enter. At the prompt, type "sfc /scannow" (no quotes). This will scan and verify all system files and repair if needed and possible. See How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7.

 

I actually found a new link for a different file that installed fine. But it still shows that there is an ethernet cable unplugged Also, as an answer to your question, it always said missing INF file when I was installing and Error 40. I have no Idea what is up with the ethernet cable uplugged thing though :I Now my problem is pretty much a glitch that it shows Ethernet cable unplugged, while I am using wireless connection. I have been searching it and have seen that many people have had problems like this but none of their solutions worked.

WAit! This is the first driver I have installed on the computer- do any other drivers affect it? EDIT: Didn't work- still looking for solution for "unplugged ethernet cable" although I am using wireless connection EDIT #2: I have figured out why it shows no ethernet cable plugged in- I don't have a wireless network driver installed! And I can't find one for my laptop!

 

EDIT: found out that i just needed to manually install the Wireless Network driver aswell