laptop wireless works, desktop does not

I have a desktop running windows xp that used to work fine with a wireless connection but now takes forever to connect, or not at all. I have two laptops, one. running xp, the other vista and they connect to the wireless no problem. this is in a house. any suggestions? thanks in advance.

Hi dreux
sorry to hear about the problems you are experiencing… it must be very annoying considering that your other machines on the network seem to be working and connecting Ok
It would be helpful for us to have some extra information….

1 to start off with, does your computer XP desktop have an internal wireless network adapter or are you using an external one (USB for example?)
2 Have you tried a known good working network adapter card for wireless with the correct up to date drivers? is there any difference with that fitted?
3 Is your wireless network adapter recognised in Device Manager and is it listed as working Ok?
4 Any yellow or red markers against it in Device Manager?
5 Have you power cycled your modem/router/wireless access point and in the correct order… whilst rebooting your computer?
5 Have you tried the "Repair" button in wireless Network Connection Status?
6 Have you flushed your DNS resolver cache, released and renewed your lease? (via ipconfig)
7 try running this from "Run" (Use copy and paste as this will make sure you get the syntax correct!)

cmd /c "ipconfig /all > postme.txt & ping bbc.co.uk >> postme.txt & notepad postme.txt & del postme.txt"

8 What is the distance in feet from your WAP to your computer?
9 any particular barriers to radio wave propagation in your house, or likely causes of signal attenuation,(thick walls, large metallic objects in the line of sight twixt WAP and computer etc.)
10 Any sources of interference between the two….? microwave ovens, DECT phones, baby alarms etc or anything that may be operating on the same or similar frequencies to your WAP?
11 Have you tried to connect with encryption off… for a short test….any better?
12 Have you tried to connect with software Firewall down and anti virus spyware protections temporarily disabled for a short test? any better?

please copy and paste the output from the notepad window you opened in 7 above into your reply, together with details of your computer and its modem/router/WAP and we will do our best to help.
regards
paws

1) I'm using an external wireless network adapter. 2) I have not tried a known good working network adapter card for wireless with the correct up to date drivers. 3) under device manager, network adapters is: 802.11 USB Wireless LAN Card and Atheros AR8131 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller 4) no yellow or red markers 5) I have not power cycled my modem/router/wireless access point and in the correct order… whilst rebooting my computer. 6) I have not tried the "Repair" button in wireless Network Connection Status. 7) I have not flushed your DNS resolver cache, released and renewed your lease? (via ipconfig) 8) results from Run: Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : owner-97e300945 Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.mn.comcast.net. Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR8131 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : E0-CB-4E-01-4C-C3 Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 4: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.mn.comcast.net. Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11 USB Wireless LAN Card Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-E0-4C-10-BE-B0 Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.3 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 75.75.76.76 75.75.75.75 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, August 31, 2013 6:43:01 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, September 07, 2013 6:43:01 PM Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.253.67] with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 212.58.253.67: bytes=32 time=115ms TTL=110 Reply from 212.58.253.67: bytes=32 time=115ms TTL=110 Reply from 212.58.253.67: bytes=32 time=119ms TTL=110 Reply from 212.58.253.67: bytes=32 time=121ms TTL=110 Ping statistics for 212.58.253.67: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss), Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: Minimum = 115ms, Maximum = 121ms, Average = 117ms 9) I'm located on the second floor of a house. the desktop is located at the southwest corner of the building. the modem is on the first floor approx 25 feet away to the northeast, through the floor and one wall downstairs. there is another resident right below me who has access to the internet, as well as one in the room next to mine on the second floor. 10) if there is any interference it would be the housemates descibed above. I think when they are on the internet my access slows down. 11) I did not try to connect with encryption off, since I'm not sure what that means. 12) I did turn off the firewall and it did seem a little faster. I hope this is all the info you need. if not please get back to me. thanks for your help. dreux

Hi Ok I understand Try steps 5 6 and 7 and then reboot your computer any better? If not move temporarily your computer to the same room as your Wireless Access Point and within 10 feet of it? any better? Regards paws