Solved Network Adaptor not recognised

[willum08]

Hi,
I have recently carried out a complete installation from DVD of Windows 7 Pro 64 bit on my wife's ACER Travelmate P253 after replacing a faulty hard drive. Windows 7 apparently installed OK but I am unable to access the internet on her laptop, because the Atheros WiFi Network Adaptor is not being recognised. It is absent in the list of devices shown in Device Manager, under the heading 'Network Adaptors'. Also, I have to select 'View > Show hidden devices' to actually see the 'Network Adaptors' heading, and the only devices shown are a series of WAN Miniport entries.

My own laptop is an identical model, so suspecting that the Wireless Module on my wife's laptop may be faulty, I removed the known working module from my Laptop and fitted it in my wife's laptop... Result - exactly the same - the device could not be seen in 'Device Manager'.
I tried the 'search for new hardware' facility but again - nothing was found.
I installed Belarc Advisor on her laptop (via USB memory stick) to see if it reported the presence of the Network Adaptor, but there was no mention of the device.

The strange thing is that the Network Adaptor was working fine, before the hard drive was replaced.
All other functions of Windows 7 seem to be working OK.

I would really appreciate any suggestions or solutions to this problem.

I trust I have posted in the appropriate forum...... Apologies if this is not the case...

 

[torchwood]

Hi

Anything shown as Unknown device


Roy

 

[willum08]

Hi Roy,
Thanks for your response - That was Quick !!

There are some entries under 'Other Devices'.... as follows
Base System Device
Base System Device
Ethernet Controller
Network Controller
PCI Simple Communications Controller
SM Bus Controller

All the above entries have a yellow exclamation in their Icons - presumably no drivers installed ??

But nothing under a heading 'Unknown Devices'

 

[Paul Black]

Hi willum08,

There are some entries under 'Other Devices'.... as follows
Base System Device
Base System Device
Ethernet Controller
Network Controller
PCI Simple Communications Controller
SM Bus Controller

All the above entries have a yellow exclamation in their Icons - presumably no drivers installed ??

But nothing under a heading 'Unknown Devices'

Please perform this . . .

Under the heading msinfo32 [MS System Information] - Problem Devices . . ., please run MS_Info32_Find_Problem_Devices.bat, Option [2] from here => BATCH PROGRAMS [Standalone] and then upload the results using the tutorial at the bottom of the above link [Upload to SevenForums . . .] and someone will look at it for you.

NOTE: The reason I link to the thread above rather than posting the .bat file here is because it makes it easier if I have to amend the batch script. This way, I only have to amend it and upload it to one location.

I hope this helps!

 

[willum08]

Hi Paul,
Thank you for your response and the detailed procedure.
As requested, I executed your instructions and have attached the resultant .txt file......

 

[Paul Black]

Hi willum08,

There are some entries under 'Other Devices'.... as follows
Base System Device
Base System Device
Ethernet Controller
Network Controller
PCI Simple Communications Controller
SM Bus Controller

All the above entries have a yellow exclamation in their Icons - presumably no drivers installed?

As you suspected, the reason for ALL of the above are The drivers for this device are not installed.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi willum08,

You can download the respective drivers from here => Acer Drivers.

You just need to enter either Serial Number or SNID or Model Number.
I hope this helps!

 

[willum08]

Hi Paul and Roy,

Thank you most sincerely for your assistance with my problem, WiFi is working fine now. What I didn't realise is that unless the Wireless Network adaptor's driver was installed, the device would not show in Device Manager....
I expected the device to show but with an indication that its Driver was not installed.... However, lesson learned !

Four of the reported items under the 'Other Devices' are still showing with yellow exclamation marks on their Icons -
Base System Device (x2), PCI Simple Communications Controller and SM Bus Controller. These items don't appear to be causing any problems but I'll do some research on-line for solutions...

Again, Thank You both for your time and help with my problem... it is truly appreciated.

I have now made an Image of the C: Drive on an external hard drive...

 

[Paul Black]

Hi willum08,

Thank you most sincerely for your assistance with my problem, WiFi is working fine now.

You are very welcome!

Four of the reported items under the 'Other Devices' are still showing with yellow exclamation marks on their Icons -
Base System Device (x2), PCI Simple Communications Controller and SM Bus Controller. These items don't appear to be causing any problems but I'll do some research on-line for solutions...

You could run WU [Windows Update] to see if it finds them. You should be able to identify them quite easily.

I hope this helps!

 

[willum08]

Thanks again Paul... will do so later... and report back.

Kind Regards

 

[willum08]

Hi Paul,
Tried Windows Update but it didn't find any drivers for the mentioned devices. However, I found drivers for the Base System Devices and the SM Bus Controller and they have been installed OK. I'm not really concerned about the PCI Controller since I would only expect this to be required on a 'Desktop' motherboard which has PCI Card slots.....
Can't understand why this appears on a Laptop which doesn't have PCI expansion slots (as far as I know)

Everything working reasonably well now.

Thanks Again

 

[Paul Black]

Hi willum08,

Tried Windows Update but it didn't find any drivers for the mentioned devices. However, I found drivers for the Base System Devices and the SM Bus Controller and they have been installed OK. I'm not really concerned about the PCI Controller since I would only expect this to be required on a 'Desktop' motherboard which has PCI Card slots.....

Oh well, it was worth a try!

Can't understand why this appears on a Laptop which doesn't have PCI expansion slots (as far as I know).

It is included in the installation media. If you think how many different models and specifications a manufacturer produces, it would be a nightmare to have different installation media for each model and specifications specifically for that model and specifications.

If you are happy, then please mark this thread as solved!

I hope this helps!

 

[willum08]

Thanks Paul.... Understood !