Solved downgraded 8 to 7, can't get wireless to work

[HAVOC]

I have a new Dell 17" laptop. Removed Windows 8 and installed Windows 7. The install went fine but when I try to install the driver for the bluetooth and wifi the installer tells me to turn on the switch which I do (fn+F2) and the installer just sits there.
If anybody can tell me if I downloaded the correct driver, my service tag is: [Tag Removed for security]

 

[maxie]

Hi there .. You should have this Installed >>>> Dell Wireless 1704 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Driver .. Also do you have the Dell Airplane Mode Switch Driver Installed ?

 

[HAVOC]

That's the driver I installed but it gets stuck at "Activate Bluetooth using Wireless Switch". There is no physical switch. If I press (fn+F2) a Bluetooth icon does appear in the notification area. I thought maybe it needs to "see" a device so I tried to connect with my phone but it never does (probably because the driver isn't installed fully).

The other driver you listed is for Windows 8.

 

[Golden]

Do you need a Dell OEM driver to make the FN keys work properly? I know the light is coming on, but is it actually turning on the hardware?

 

[maxie]

Hi there ... Seems you need to Install the Chipset Driver first .. Then there are two Drivers for the WIfi 1704 and 1705 ... Read the Links below it will explain .. Which one you need .. The other Link is for the Drivers ...


Inspirion 17R 3737 -drivers for graph &wifi on WIN7 - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community



Dell Wireless Cards | Unofficial Windows Reinstallation and Related Guides by Philip Yip.

 

[HAVOC]

Fixed it

I seached a little on google and saw others with the same issue. If you go to Dell's support page and look up drivers for Inspiron 17 5737 (do not use the service tag number), you will see "Dell Wireless 1705 Wi-Fi +Bluetooth Driver", download and install that, it takes a while but now both WLAN and Bluetooth are working normally.

I'm going to run Windows updates and then see if I have any !'s in device manager.

(my laptop is Inspiron 17 3737)

 

[maxie]

That is good news I did know it had to be one of the two Drivers

 

[HAVOC]

After the updates I still have drivers that need to be installed. Going to look for those in a little bit.

 

[maxie]

Which Device Drivers are you missing ?

 

[HAVOC]

After install I had !'s for Ethernet controller, USB controller, Unknown device and USB2.0-CRW.
Windows updates fixed the Unknown device and driver downloads (from Dell, using my service tag) fixed the Ethernet controller and USB2.0-CRW (card reader).

The one I have left is "Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller". I thought it was for my USB3 ports, but they work (plugged in m external HDD, I'm not sure if they are at USB3 speeds though).

I'm told that when I install Windows 7 on a laptop all I need to install is wireless drivers. I have never found that to be the case and I'm always trying to install the right driver.

 

[maxie]

Hi there .. Did you Install the Driver below ..


Driver Details | Dell US

 

[HAVOC]

I installed that driver with no change in device manager.

Found out it was "Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver" which I also found under drivers for the Inspiron 17R 5737 laptop.

Now I have no !'s.

 

[maxie]

That is great news

 

[HAVOC]

So after I got Windows 7 running on this laptop I'd thought I'll dual boot with Ubuntu seeing how the install went without a hitch on my Acer netbook. I also like the "Unity" interface.

No dice. Ubuntu 12.04 wouldn't see my Windows 7 install, so I installed it (erasing Windows 7) and the desktop looks terrible. Found out Ubuntu 13.10 has support for Intel HD4000 video, so I installed 13.10. Same thing, desktop looks terrible. Read up on it and it seems that it's stuck at 96 DPI and you can't change it.

I'll be reinstalling Windows 7 and seeing if I could dual boot with Windows 8 like I originally planned.