No WiFi after clean install - M17xR3

Good day guys,

I did a clean install of windows 7 and I am in the process of installing the drivers. I am following Batboy's thread for the order of installation, but have ran into a problem with getting wifi.

I was at Dell's site and put my service tag in and downloaded the two networks drivers. Neither of them did anything, so I put in the resource DVD to get the network drivers. I installed the one it had, and now the wired connection works, but still cant get wireless.

I don't know what to do now, should I install all the network drivers for the m17xR3?
Also, should I uninstall/delete the two that aren't letting me connect? If so, How?

Thanks

 

You should uninstall the wifi drivers, which did not work (drivers for the wrong wifi card). Open programs and features in start menu and search for Broadcom, Atheros and Intel wireless software. Then uninstall it and choose not to save any settings if prompted. Do not uninstall the LAN/ethernet drivers, these are for the cabled connection and are required.

How to check which wifi card is installed using the same Dell driver downloads page:
type your service tag, click on System configuration, then components and search for the keyword 'wireless' - you will find the model of wifi card.

Download the driver for your card, do not use the resource DVD - download page will have the latest driver version for your system. If it's an Intel card, when you have the name of the card, get the wireless drivers straight from Intel.

 

Thanks for your response.
After I posted this I was looking into it some more. I found that the wifi card it wasn't under network adaptors in the device manager. It was under Other Devices or something similar. Once I identified it as the WLAN 1501, it worked and I was able to access internet again.

I do have another question though if you don't mind.
I had someone put in a second HDD as a storage disc a few months ago. I took it out before I did the clean install and I want to put it back in again. I remember him doing something to make the computer boot from the new SSD instead of the old drive. Do/should I do anything when I go to put it back in?

Thanks again!

 

No problem

If that HDD was for storage only and no Windows was installed there, you can just put it back in and it will appear in your PC ready to use.

If the HDD had the OS installed, you can set the SSD in BIOS as the first boot device. If you don't mind loosing the data on the HDD, you can format it in order to avoid any issues with 2 boot devices.

 

^^That should do it. You can have Windows on both, but whatever is set to boot first will load first and the other one would be used as storage only.

 

Awesome thanks guys!
The HDD used to have Windows installed but now is only used for storage. The HHD was wiped after cloning it to the new SSD. Something went wrong when it was cloned which is why I ended up doing the clean install. I used my laptop for a couple weeks before doing the clean installation, so I know the HHD doesn't have Windows on it anymore.

Thanks again!