Internet Connection Problems

oops, sorry about that – I'll give that a go tomorrow, I'm exhausted and off to bed. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks.

Just wanted to fill in a final update: Yesterday I received a blue screen of death (probably because I accidentally closed my laptop during a hard drive diagnostics test during bootup) and just got another one right now during a startup. However, once I restarted my laptop the internet started working!!! Looks like all I needed was a fatal crash haha. And thanks for all the help you gave me back when we were working on it. I'll probably be back sometime in the future when some else goes haywire.

So… my internet worked for the short period of time after posting my last message. Then I restarted the computer in normal fashion (probably 2 days after the last post of this message, aka a couple months ago), and when it rebooted it was back in the same position I've been in all along. I didn't bring it back up because I didn't want to bother more of everyone's time, but now it looks like I'll be holding onto this laptop longer than originally expected, so I wanted to see if I could get this internet thing cleared up. I'm very grateful for all the help I've received thus far and thank you for the future help.

In all the posts in this thread, I don't think you said what the make and model number of your laptop is. If you did I missed it, sorry. Have you tried going to the manufacturers web site and downloading the latest available driver for the network card/chip? What about the latest Chipset drivers? Also, I did not see where you uninstalled the network card from Device Manager and rebooted as suggested by LDTate.

Make & Model: IBM ThinkPad R51 (about 5 yrs old) Actually, just now I downloaded the new drivers from the Lenovo (since that is where I go for my IBM computer stuff now) site but after I did it, it never really said they were installed. Further explaining, this is what I did: 1) downloaded the drivers off Lenovo for the 2200BG Network Connection 2) Ran the file and loaded onto computer, HOWEVER 3) whenever I still check the driver details (through start–>run–>devmgmt.msc–>going to the network card) the driver date still says 8/24/2004… and it should be 11/2008 because that is the date of the driver I downloaded and ran. I hope that makes sense…

Try uninstalling the network card from Device Manager first, then reboot and install the new driver, see if that makes a difference.

Done, but still have the problem. And it still says the driver is from 2004???? From the site it said 11/08… And after I uninstalled the hardware was not visible in the devmgmt menu; I reinstalled and it says it's 2004 again…

In Device Manager, double click on the network card then click on the Driver tab. What version does it say is installed? From the Lenovo site, the latest Wireless is v5.3.0.85 and the latest wired is 22 Apr 2005 Build 94590 or 28 Feb 2007 Build 135400, depending on what hardware you have.

hmmmm, well : Driver Proder: Intel Driver Date: 8/24/2004 Driver Version: 8.1.0.28 Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatability Publ….that's all it says I'll recheck Lenovo, maybe I downloaded the wrong thing….

Did what you suggested, but it still says the exact same specs as above??????

Are these the drivers you've tried?

Wireless: 7vwc23ww.exe 35,195,528 Intel Wireless LAN (11abgn, abg, bg)e

Ethernet (wired) driver: 7ira09ww.exe 11,663,064 Intel PRO/1000 LAN adapter software

Also, the directions for installing the drivers are in the .txt file listed below it on the web site as follows:

To update the driver,

1. Start Windows XP/XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and logon with
administrative privileges.
2. Extract this package onto your hard drive.
3. Click Start, then click Control Panel.
4. Click Performance and Maintenance, then click System icon.
5. Click the Hardware tab.
6. Click Device Manager.
7. Expand the expand Network adapters category.
8. Right-click Intel PRO/1000 PL Network Connection or
Intel PRO/1000 MT Mobile Connection in Network adapters and click
Properties.
9. Click Driver tab.
10. Click Update Driver….
11. Select No, not this time, then click Next.
12. Select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced).
13. Click Next in Hardware Upgrade Wizard dialog box.
14. Select "Search for the best driver in these locations" and "Include
this location in the search:" only.
15. Specify the path to the following sub-directory with the full
path name where you extracted the package in step 1 in Include
this location in the search:.
\PRO1000\Win32
16. Click Next.
The driver installation starts.
17. Click Finish when the installation completes.
18. Click Close.

See if that gets the right driver installed.

I guess I wasn't reading the instructions too carefully for the installation… I got the installation complete and it shows that I have the updated drivers in Device Manager, but I'm still getting the limited/no connectivity problem.

Did you do both Wireless and Ethernet drivers and both connection methods are still failing the same way? Please also try connecting via Ethernet using the cable that is currently plugged into the working desktop system. That will eliminate any possible cable problem. Ignore if you've already done this. For Wireless, what software is managing the connection? I've found that letting Windows manage it works better in most cases (no T-Mobile ). To have Windows XP manage your wireless network connection, do the following. Open Network Connections. Right click on Wireless Network Connection, select Properties. Click the Wireless Networks tab and check the "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" box. Click OK. Shutdown and reboot to have this take effect.

Yeah I installed the new drivers for both wireless and wired and still get lmd/no connect. I got the same when I plugged in using the cable. I've already had Windows configuring the network settings (i.e. box is already checked).

The only other thing I can think to try is a total hardware/driver reset (of sort).

• Uninstall both the Wireless and Ethernet connections in Device Manager
• Reboot and go into BIOS Setup and load the default settings, then save and exit

On the next boot, XP will detect the Wireless and Etherrnet connections and install them again using the latest drivers.

If no luck, give DIal-a-fix a try. Unimpressive name, but a very good program.

Other than that, I'm stumped. You could try a Repair Install if you have the XP CD or restore the computer to factory state using the Lenovo recovery CD. If you have to use the Recovery CD, please back up your data first as it will be gone afterwards.

If that does not fix it then you have some kind of hardware problem, most likely in the system board.