I can’t get online because my wi-fi card isn’t working
Posted on 07. Oct, 2008 by Mike Halsey in crisis
This will commonly happen in one of the following circumstances…
- You have reinstalled Windows and have a corrupt or incorrect driver for your wi-fi card or, worse, don’t have a driver CD and there’s no driver installed by default by Windows (this is way more common than you might think it is)
- You have tried, or Windows update has tried, to install an updated driver and something has gone wrong, corrupting the installed driver
- The driver has been uninstalled, perhaps to try to correct a problem, and won’t reinstall
- Something has gone wrong with Windows and the driver has become corrupt
In any of these scenarios you’ll find yourself unable to get online. Fortunately there are ways around this.
If you or Windows update has tried to install a new driver and all its done is stop the thing from working, which is known to happen from time to time, you can Roll back the driver or restore it using System Restore. This isn’t just for your wi-fi driver. The same techniques can be used to restore any driver to a previous version.
Restoring a previous driver version using driver roll-back
- Open the Control panel, you may need to click the link to use the Classic View
- In Windows XP or earlier open System and click the Hardware tab and press the Device Manager button
- In Windows Vista or later open the Device Manager.
- First, look to see if the appropriate driver under Network Adaptors has a yellow warning triangle next to it
- If everything looks normal click on the + symbol next to Network Adaptors
- Right click on the correct device and select Properties
- Click on the Driver tab in the window that appears
- Press the Roll Back Driver button.
Restoring a previous driver using System Restore in Windows XP
- Open the Start Menu and click Help and Support
- Under Pick a task click Undo changes to your computer with System Restore
- Follow the instructions in the wizard to restore Windows to a point before the new driver was installed
Restoring a previous driver using System Restore in Windows Vista
- Open the Control panel, you may need to click the link to use the Classic View
- open System and click the System Protection tab
- Press the System Restore button and follow the instructions in the wizard to restore Windows to a point before the new driver was installed
Plug your PC directly into your router
Your PC will most probably connect to your broadband line through a router or modem, an external box that plugs into your telephone line. If you have a length of network cable (your router should come with at least 1 metre of it) you can plug your computer directly into one of the available ports on the rear. You should then instantly have internet access back and will be able to search online for a new, working, wi-fi driver for your hardware.
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