Dell inspiron-1520 to my Belkin Router

Hey Guys, need a little help setting up this Dell inspiron-1520 to my Belkin Router. Its not showing under Connect to >>> Show all conections, it just shows Broadband Connection and Lan or High-speed conmection. Nothing showing wireless! Windows XP Any help appreciated ! Thanks Chuck Thought i had fixed this problem, nope ! after much searching i found the switch but it does not seem to be working anyway the small green light that is supposed to come on,when searching for connections will not turn green. Wi-Fi Catcher™ light does not light up so What is the proper procedure for hooking up Broadband, i will give it a try, been to long since i have hooked up a computer, memory fails me !

What shows up in Network adapters in Device Manager (click Start then Run, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter)?

If the wireless device shows up there, try right clicking on it and selecting delete, then reboot. XP will rediscover the device and reload the drivers for it. See if that helps.

If not, what is the make and model of the wireless device? Locate it on the Dell web site for your computer here: Drivers and Downloads then download and install it, see if that helps.

Hi Ztruker, thanks for the reply. Under Network adapters it shows the following: 1394 Net Adapter <<< it says its working properly ! There is a bunch of ?'s by these under other devices: ? other devices ? Base System device <<< 3 line of this, all are the same. ? Ethernet Controler ? Network Controler ? PCI Device ? SM Bus Controler ? Video Controler ? Video Controler (VGA Compatable) Nothing for a WI-Fi (wireless) Thanks Chuck

Did you just install XP? Looks like you have a bunch of device drivers that are not installed.

If you go to the Dell support site and enter your service tag number, it will take you to a page where you can download the drivers you need.

Or post your service tag number and I or one of the other techs here can help find the ones you need if you have trouble.

Ztruker thanks for the help. I talked to my ISP and we tried hooking to my broadband but it would not hook up so we think it has internal problems. So i will give this lappy back to user & tell them that i won't buy it till connection problems are fixed. Thanks Chuck

Chuck, you're ISP can't help until all the device drivers are installed so you can connect to the internet. I think returning it until it's all working is a good idea though. Why should you have to go through the hassle when the seller should have given you a working computer.

This is starting to sound like a challenge to me, i think i will ask for it back and try your suggestion on the drivers. So i can download the needed drivers to a disk on my computer then run in the lappy ??? Chuck

Ok downloaded files, i think, but it keeps telling me i do not have administrative rights, so the files are sitting in the task bar, how do i get administrative rights ??? Chuck

This sounds like a mess. Are you sure you want to deal with this laptop?

Is the guy you are getting this laptop from reputable? It sounds as if the system has been reloaded (wiped) before giving it to you, but NOT done properly. Almost every driver has not been loaded and now it sounds like you are stuck in a limited user account. If this guy doesn't know what he is doing its likely he has installed a pirated version of Windows XP professional on the laptop when it probably has a perfectly legitimate license for XP home edition.

First, go into control panel -> user account and determine what the administrator account is. There should definitely be one, and you should definitely be able to log into it. This is why it reinforces the idea that a bootlegged version of XP pro is installed. Only XP pro will have an "Administrator" account that is normally hidden from the windows welcome screen. This would not happen with XP home. Once you determine the administrator account name, which is probably "administrator" you need to log off your computer and press ctrl - alt -del twice at the windows welcome screen in order to get to the windows classic login screen. At which point you will type in "administrator" for the username and try a blank password. If this lets you in you will want to go to control panel -> user account and make the limited user account you generally use an "administrative" account.

Finally, you should verify that the version of operating system installed on your computer matches what the COA sticker on the bottom of the laptop says. You can download and run MGADiag to test your system to make sure the operating system is genuine. However, if the license type listed says Volume it is a bootlegged version anyways regardless if it says it is genuine. MGADiag will also show a portion of the product key which should match the sticker on the bottom of the laptop or its not legit.

Pretty much every driver and piece of software has to be loaded on this laptop from the Dell website because whoever reloaded the system didn't know what they were doing. This again reinforces the idea they probably used a pirated version of XP because they didn't know enough to use the proper disc with the proper product key. I see this regularly, when a "friend" helps someone out before the computer comes to me to get fixed properly.

H appleoddity, its a registered Windows XP professional, i am waiting for her to give me the password for the admin. I have never downloaded drivers before so i think i have them on a disk that i used but can't run them till i have admin priveleges So once i have admin rights how do i put them from disk to the laptop ?? The tag # Inspiron 1520 Tag: 1V5Q9F1 can anyone tell me which files i will need to use wireless and any other files i may need, then i can check them with my downloaded files ?? Thanks Chuck

Ok i contacted the owner & there was no password set on this computer, now what ?? I do the usual leave password blank ^ it keeps asking for a password ! Chuck I am at the screen with the start >> task bar but there are no drivers installed, i think i have the ones i need on disk, so i put the disk in and they show on the disk, now how do i transfer them from the disk to the computer ???

If there was no password set, just press enter. That's the default. *Edit: Sorry, I missed that in your post.

Now i can put the disk in & it shows the files i need to install, how do i get them to install ? Chuck

I don't know the circumstances of how you have obtained this laptop so I am not really qualified to give you advice on what to do with it. But, if I were buying this laptop, and I were you, then I would want to know that my operating system was legit, and that everything was loaded on the laptop and functioning properly unless I were getting one heck of a deal. If you bought this laptop used from any reputable company or person that knew what they were doing you would receive a fully functional laptop with a legit operating sytsem and a valid COA sticker. You should expect nothing less. It appears the lady you obtained the laptop from is not qualified to provide a functioning laptop to you. She has not loaded any of the required software for the laptop. She has loaded an operating system which most likely does not match the sticker on the bottom of the laptop with no valid reason. What happens if you ever want to reload this laptop in the future? If you do not have any qualifying documentation such as the certificate of authenticity for the version of operating system you have installed then it is not legit, period. Whether she is a friend, family, or just someone with "good intentions" she may have done something that maybe she doesn't even know is wrong and later on down the road it might bite you. So, one more time I will say that the operating system should match the product key and version of windows listed on the COA sticker on the bottom of the laptop. This can be determined with the help of MGADiag. Now, she is telling you there is no password, but if you use the username "administrator" and just press ENTER for a blank password and that does not work, then I'm sorry, YES THERE IS a password. I think I would be doing you a great disservice to not throw up a caution flag on this one.

Now i can put the disk in & it shows the files i need to install, how do i get them to install ?

Chuck

You can't. As you stated you don't have administrator permissions, unless that has changed?

We can help you with the driver issues but we will be unable to assist you in the removal or reset of the login passwords on the laptop if that is whats required here.