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    Inspiron 1520 XP wifi trouble

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by saikosaiko, Jan 28, 2008.

  1. saikosaiko

    saikosaiko Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi all,
    about a week back I installed Windows XP professional on my Inspiron 1520 following a guide on this forum. However, I can't get wireless connections to work. Here's the deal:
    I installed Intel PROset/wireless drivers and after the installation, the icon in the system tray had a little red cross on the icon and a textbox message said "Driver is not installed". So I dowloaded all kind of wifi and Intel drivers from both Dell's and Intel's website to no avail.
    I looked around on the Dell customer support sites and found a solution that actually worked. It told me to go to Windows' wireless connections and to the advanced settings' wireless tab and check the "Use Windows to configure my wireless settings" checkbox. It worked and I got connected.
    So... no need for those Intel Drivers now, right? I uninstalled the not-working Intel stuff (mainly to get rid of the ugly icon :p ) and after that, the wireless connection was not working again. Moreover, the wireless tab in Windows' wireless advanced settings is not there anymore. So I reinstalled Intel PROset/wireless drivers, they still tell me that driver is not installed and I still don't have the wireless tab and I still can't connect to wireless internet.
    I'm at my wits end and all help would be very welcome.
     
    saikosaiko, Jan 28, 2008
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  2. nizzy1115

    nizzy1115 Notebook Prophet

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    And XP is greater than Vista how? ;)
     
    nizzy1115, Jan 28, 2008
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  3. saikosaiko

    saikosaiko Notebook Enthusiast

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    You mean besides slowing down games, nonrespondent video drivers and messed up My Documents.
    Well, maybe the fact that Vista is pretty retarded and won't even let you safely remove a USB stick when a folder with it's contents is open. Little things like that just piss me off. But in the end, it all comes down to personal preference.
    So - does anybody have any advice for the wifi drivers? Or perhaps share your own experience.
     
    saikosaiko, Jan 29, 2008
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  4. saikosaiko

    saikosaiko Notebook Enthusiast

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    Okay, I think I found the solution.
    Apparently it's needed that you enable something called Wireless Zero Configuration. I got the wireless tab back in options, however I can't try it out yet since I don't have wireless internet at home. But everything seems to be in order.
    Instructions:
    http://tech.ifelix.net/2007.html
    Site behind the link suggest that you uninstall wireless adapter's manufacturer's wifi software, but keep the drivers. Since I have no idea how to do that and I don't really feel like experimenting now that I have the wireless thingy working. So I guess I have to put up with Intel software flashing it's uglyness in my system tray.
    Cheers.
     
    saikosaiko, Jan 31, 2008
    #4