I don't have any wifi networks visible/available

Hello all you W7 users.

I have had a perfectly harmonious dual boot system (Ubuntu 10.04 and W7) for a few months now .... until about 4 or 5 days ago, which is about how long I've been trying to fix this problem.

My laptop has an Atheros AR9285 wifi card in it (which generally seems to be considered a pile of rubbish) which stopped working after I tried to update its driver. However the card still functions well when I boot into Linux, so the card is obviously good. In W7 (an upgrade from the "Pro" edition to the "Ultimate" edition, because of wanting to change system languages when necessary) I can no longer see any wifi networks. The card "details" tell me that it is functioning correctly, it is properly enabled and the driver is the same one now that it had before when everything worked OK. When I run a W7 powered "diagnostic" I'm told that there seems to be trouble with the driver.

I can normally fix this kind of thing with a certain tenacity but this has got me!! I'm tired, frustrated and very angry. I have tried just about everything that has been suggested on the many forums etc. that I have visited in an effort to solve my problem.

Can anyone help an old guy out here? Many, many thanks in advance.

All the best,

Martin

PS I forgot to add that I even went out and bought a Netgear N300 USB wifi adapter which it was impossible to install in W7, but which works perfectly in Ubuntu 10.04.

I'll link you to a bunch of tutorials, all of which may help you.

* Roll back driver (works for both vista and win7): Device Manager - Roll Back Driver - Vista Forums
* or try complete uninstallation of driver (windows should automatically install its own generic driver until you get an updated one): Uninstall Device and Device Driver - Vista Forums

-AND-

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* Have windows search for a drier for you: Driver Install - Device Manager
* Change auto-install settings for drivers in win7: Device Installation Settings

-OR-

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-OR-

* you can look up the most recent driver from the manufacturer of the device to download. If that is the one that doesn't work, try a slightly older one, or go with the windows pick
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Twibble said:

I really would like to find a full blown expert that can guide me though the somewhatrighthwhat more hazardous steps to try to put thie more h of t

I understand. But I am fairly curious, and until an expert comes around, would you allow me to try and poke around a bit? It can only help after all.

When did the card stop functioning, after you updated its driver or after you upgraded to win7 ultimate?

Did you update any other programs at or around the same time, namely antivirus software?

Are you sure it is your card causing the problem, or could it just be that you cannot connect to the internet for any other unknown reason?
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Here is a troubleshooting guide, but it seems like just trouble connecting to the internet, nothing to do with a troubled card: Internet Troubleshooting Guide

*EDIT: Do these (in brackets) after the system restore I suggested below this post (link)
{Failing that, You might try an sfc scan SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker
And then a repair install if you can Startup Repair }

ps. Forgive my scrambled thoughts, its really late here (early, rather)
/edit




This is all just Microsoft standard answers within the brackets, not sure how helpful they'd be:
{Ensure that your router is set to broadcast it’s network name (SSID), ensure that you are connecting to the correct wireless network (SSID) and that you are using the correct WEP/WPA passkey on both devices.


If you are trying to use WPA or WPA2, please ensure that both your network adapter and wireless router support this protocol. If you are having issues detecting your wireless network when using WPA or WPA2, try configuring your router to use WEP instead and see if you can connect.
Please note that the change between WEP/WPA/WPA2 will need to be made on both your computer and wireless router.}

I am not sure about your particular situation, but is a system restore something you are able to do(Keep in mind I still am not sure if this is the result of a driver installed that wont work, or the upgrade to ultimate that is causing the trouble)?

1. Try disabling TCP auto-tuning.
   
   In an administrator command prompt:
   netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled
   If it doesn't do anything, turn it back on:
   netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=normal
2. Does it ever work after you've disabled it and then reenabled it? Have you received all important updates and any updates dealing with the internet/wireless/etc and installed them all?

I know I sound like a child asking his uncle to color with him, but please humor me still :)

A Guy said:

Welcome to Seven Forums elavi1. Try this:

1. Go to start
2. In search box, type cmd , right click cmd.exe, and then click "Run as administrator"
3. Then type:

netsh winsock reset

4. Press enter
5. Restart PC

Hopefully that will fix it, If not it will not harm anything.

A Guy

You might flush the dns (ipconfig /flushdns) in command prompt.

Just about most of the things I am suggesting have to do with a broke internet connection and not a wifi card, I do realize. What is the harm in trying them though? Please get back to me, and hopefully I haven't wasted too much time going in circles with things that might not actually apply to you.
o.0

Twibble said:

Dusty,

Please don't even imagine that I don't appreciate the help. I am very grateful to you!.

Hey, you're helping me here. I get the chance to learn from helping you out (if I can). Not that you're a guinea pig or anything!

Twibble said:

1/ The card stopped working after I tinkered around with the driver. I had already used it OK for about 2 or 3 weeks after the upgrade to W7 Ultimate..

that should rule out any upgrade problem, and the sfc scan should be able to help with that in the event that i am wrong.

Twibble said:

2/ I update things all the time and honestly don't remember what I did around the time when the connection stopped working. This is all about a week ago now and things got very fuzzy after spending days trying everything I could to put it right.

3/ I don't think that the card is the problem; it works perfectly well when I boot into Ubuntu. I really don't have a clue but I think that the problem is the wifi stuff in W7.

4/ I can't see any networks, the card's info tells me it's working correctly & Window's tells me that it is enabled.

I'm going to try everything that you suggested right now and see what happens.

Yes, something in that list should help. Even though you have already tried to uninstall/reinstall drivers for your device, you might still try again. Once again I am sure you think I'm just inane, but do bear with me. So when I say this next bit, I'm not trying to make it seem like I know everything, but sometimes even the dumbest thing may solve a problem. make sure you download the most current driver from the manufacturer's website. Then uninstall anything to do with an updated driver Here is a tutorial just because, and I know you know how to uninstall a driver, but try uninstalling it AFTER disabling devices and printers from automatically installing its own driver:

1. Open Devices and Printers by clicking the Start button , and then, on the Start menu, clicking Devices and Printers.
2. Right-click the name of your computer, and then click Device installation settings.
3. Click no, do not do this automatically, and then click Save changes. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Now update the driver to the most recent from the manufacturer. failing that, I know a recent update from netgear for me cause the internet to slow down, so I choose a slightly older version of the driver.

Twibble said:

As for "Forgive my scrambled thoughts", I'm a perfect textbook case of someone 50+ who has just discovered that he's been suffering from lifelong chronic ADD. So please be kind enough to bear with me.

PS I tried 'system restore' twice and Windows aborted the process telling me that something was wrong and that the restore point had been deleted forever.

lol As I told you, only way I can learn is through testing. It truely is you having to put up with me rather than the other way around. As you can see, no one has come to rescue you yet from my incessant postings :.:

That system repair might work if you haven't yet tried it. good luck friend!

pps sorry i keep posting some of the same things over and over, I have just come from helping 4 other people with their internet problems. I've probably done the same to them too

Twibble said:

Sorry for the rant but this has been going on for a week now. I don't know what to do except reinstall W7 and hope that it doesn't screw up my faultlessly running Linux partitions.

Twibble,

Yes, I am sorry for that. That is the only thing I can think of that may help. Sorry I couldn't be more help

According to this, windows should be installed first. I know the pain you are going through. You might consider backing up data and then completely reinstalling both from scratch. But you might try this method (back up may still be needed). Good luck again!

Disclaimer: those sites were the first ones I pulled up after a google search, I know nothing of their credibility