Laptop techie help needed! - Page 2

Absalom · March 28, 2008, 02:10 PM

good luck and glad i could help

badkarma138 · March 28, 2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daergel

I am downloading the driver now - luckily I have a spare ethernet cable (although not sure what I did with the one that came with the router...). I can't believe how long it takes for things to download over a wire...

It should be significantly faster over the wire...

aside from that, some dells have a physical switch to disable wireless cards. My latitude has one on the left hand side, just a simple slider switch next to the fire wire port. It is marked with the radio tower icon that denotes all wireless devices.

below is a link for the documentation of a dell that has a similar set-up, scroll down and take a look. you may have just inadvertently disabled your wifi.

About Your Computer: Dell Latitude D820 User's Guide

Carthmason · March 28, 2008, 03:40 PM

you can goto the Dell web site and get the driver. The link is the following for your particular laptophttp://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=

you will just need to goto the networking section of the driver's to get the one you need. You will need to know which wireless card is installed in the laptop.

Daergel · April 09, 2008, 05:57 AM

I downloaded the driver and installed it, but had to restore the pc (using system restore) as it was eating the CPU - 100% usage all the time. I checked the CPU usage before, during and after installation, and it is definitely the driver!

Back to the drawing board, but I will get there (eventually!!!)

Grrrr...

Mitobit · April 16, 2008, 12:01 PM

ok, I'm a Network Systems Engineer and is there a REASON you haven't gone to Dell.com and check on which drivers are available from there support? if your going into IT you best learn to do some decent research and the first place is the Makers website.

I currently manage 800 desktop / laptops and 19 servers 100% Dell you can get the drivers / utilities needed from dell.com

make sure to use your service code and it will pinpoint what options were for the computer. I will put money on its a Intel wireless and i will also tell you i know the utiliy / driver is on there site as i re-installed the other day on one and got every driver needed.

Daergel · April 18, 2008, 07:12 AM

I downloaded it from the Dell website - that is why it's so annoying.

At the moment it has a nice yellow triangle with a '!' in the device manager - I know what it is, thanks to Absalom's post, but as soon as I install it the CPU usage goes straight to 100%. And stays there.

Gritz · April 18, 2008, 08:32 AM

Once you have everything up and running again, grab a copy of Norton Ghost and an external drive. It's the BEST PC utility out there - no matter what happens to your PC, you can be up and running again in under an hour.

Grandorf · April 18, 2008, 09:02 AM

Ok...here's an Idea....for some reason only the PC Gods know...your card might have went bad. ie 100% useage. Either buy a cheep usb wirless device or buy another card with the correct drivers for it. If you go the usb route and it fixes it and you do get another pcia card save the usb device for trouble shooting later on

*** Information added 2 Minutes and 23 Seconds later... ***

Also you might have a driver conflict . Might have two devices trying to use the same driver address.

Iza · April 18, 2008, 10:16 AM

Why don't you hook it up to a wired network(can't tell if you have already done this) and then go to device manager and right click the yellow triangle with the ! in it and select "Update driver" see if it installs the right one. If that doesn't work, right click and delete it. Then reboot. See if it can pick up the right driver. Also download driver from Dell is the ideal solution.

Going to Dell's website for the drivers for the model and service tag for the computer are spot on computer advice. This is coming from 10 years computer technician experience.

Good luck!

Absalom · April 18, 2008, 10:29 AM

Actually... if you are seeing 100% CPU usage after installing the driver.. I'd question the driver and not the hardware. If it were a faulty card, your system would likely crash (blue screen).

You sure you grabbed the right driver? I suppose you could try installing another card (USB, PCMCIA, eXpresscard, etc..) and see if that works..

March 28, 2008, 02:10 PM	#11 (permalink)
Absalom Destruction Warlock Character Info Lavath 80 Blood Elf Warlock Shadow Council US RP Guild: Syk Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/14/47	Re: Laptop techie help needed! good luck and glad i could help

March 28, 2008, 03:40 PM	#13 (permalink)
Carthmason Lurker Character Info Carthmason 62 Blood Elf Warlock Anvilmar US PvE Guild: devils disciples Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 2/43/0	Re: Laptop techie help needed! you can goto the Dell web site and get the driver. The link is the following for your particular laptophttp://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid= you will just need to goto the networking section of the driver's to get the one you need. You will need to know which wireless card is installed in the laptop. Last edited by Carthmason; March 28, 2008 at 03:42 PM..

April 09, 2008, 05:57 AM	#14 (permalink)
Daergel Member Character Info Daergel 70 Gnome Warlock Argent Dawn Euro RP Guild: Heroes of Old Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/44/11	Re: Laptop techie help needed! I downloaded the driver and installed it, but had to restore the pc (using system restore) as it was eating the CPU - 100% usage all the time. I checked the CPU usage before, during and after installation, and it is definitely the driver! Back to the drawing board, but I will get there (eventually!!!) Grrrr...

April 16, 2008, 12:01 PM	#15 (permalink)
Mitobit Lurker Character Info Mitobit 70 Gnome Warlock Alleria US PvE Guild: Mad Little People Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 20/41/0	Re: Laptop techie help needed! ok, I'm a Network Systems Engineer and is there a REASON you haven't gone to Dell.com and check on which drivers are available from there support? if your going into IT you best learn to do some decent research and the first place is the Makers website. I currently manage 800 desktop / laptops and 19 servers 100% Dell you can get the drivers / utilities needed from dell.com make sure to use your service code and it will pinpoint what options were for the computer. I will put money on its a Intel wireless and i will also tell you i know the utiliy / driver is on there site as i re-installed the other day on one and got every driver needed.

April 18, 2008, 07:12 AM	#16 (permalink)
Daergel Member Character Info Daergel 70 Gnome Warlock Argent Dawn Euro RP Guild: Heroes of Old Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/44/11	Re: Laptop techie help needed! I downloaded it from the Dell website - that is why it's so annoying. At the moment it has a nice yellow triangle with a '!' in the device manager - I know what it is, thanks to Absalom's post, but as soon as I install it the CPU usage goes straight to 100%. And stays there.

April 18, 2008, 08:32 AM	#17 (permalink)
Gritz NOT IN THE FACE!!!! Character Info Gritz 80 Orc Warlock Eldre'Thalas US PvE Guild: Fate Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 57/14/0	Re: Laptop techie help needed! Once you have everything up and running again, grab a copy of Norton Ghost and an external drive. It's the BEST PC utility out there - no matter what happens to your PC, you can be up and running again in under an hour.

April 18, 2008, 09:02 AM	#18 (permalink)
Grandorf Member	Re: Laptop techie help needed! Ok...here's an Idea....for some reason only the PC Gods know...your card might have went bad. ie 100% useage. Either buy a cheep usb wirless device or buy another card with the correct drivers for it. If you go the usb route and it fixes it and you do get another pcia card save the usb device for trouble shooting later on * Information added 2 Minutes and 23 Seconds later... * Also you might have a driver conflict . Might have two devices trying to use the same driver address.

April 18, 2008, 10:16 AM	#19 (permalink)
Iza Lurker Character Info Iza 70 Human Warlock Ravencrest US PvE Guild: Legion of Shadows Profile: Blizzard Armory	Re: Laptop techie help needed! Why don't you hook it up to a wired network(can't tell if you have already done this) and then go to device manager and right click the yellow triangle with the ! in it and select "Update driver" see if it installs the right one. If that doesn't work, right click and delete it. Then reboot. See if it can pick up the right driver. Also download driver from Dell is the ideal solution. Going to Dell's website for the drivers for the model and service tag for the computer are spot on computer advice. This is coming from 10 years computer technician experience. Good luck!

April 18, 2008, 10:29 AM	#20 (permalink)
Absalom Destruction Warlock Character Info Lavath 80 Blood Elf Warlock Shadow Council US RP Guild: Syk Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/14/47	Re: Laptop techie help needed! Actually... if you are seeing 100% CPU usage after installing the driver.. I'd question the driver and not the hardware. If it were a faulty card, your system would likely crash (blue screen). You sure you grabbed the right driver? I suppose you could try installing another card (USB, PCMCIA, eXpresscard, etc..) and see if that works..