Help please - laptop won't go onto internet

cornerstone13

Up until last week, all was well and then the laptop decided not to talk to the router anymore. We have managed to get a connection again for the laptop and the status = connected and signal strength = excellent. However, we can't connect to the internet over the wireless connection but if we take the ethernet cable out of the desktop and plug it into the laptop, we can get on the internet. We've rebooted everything which is about the limit of our knowledge.

Also on our network is another wired PC and an Xbox, both of which are working fine. The desktop and the laptop are both Windows XP.

Can anyone help to get the laptop back on the internet please

Thanks

exup

do you have the "limited or no connectivity" icon message displaying in the bottom of the screen?

Try browsing the wireless networks (if you can) and reconnecting to the correct network. You may need to reenter the password/passkey again.

If you cant see any wireless networks or dont even get that option - you may need to reinstall drivers for the network card - Is it USB (dongle) PCMCIA (thin card) or built in wireless ?

If its USB - have you changed to port into which the dongle was originally plugged - sometimes a PC will associate a device with a single port, and plugging it into a new one may require drivers being installed again

cornerstone13

do you have the "limited or no connectivity" icon message displaying in the bottom of the screen? No - it was there when we first reconnected but it's gone now

Try browsing the wireless networks (if you can) and reconnecting to the correct network. You may need to reenter the password/passkey again. We can connect to our network - we just can't get on the internet from the laptop

If you cant see any wireless networks or dont even get that option - you may need to reinstall drivers for the network card - Is it USB (dongle) PCMCIA (thin card) or built in wireless ? It's a PCMCIA card

If its USB - have you changed to port into which the dongle was originally plugged - sometimes a PC will associate a device with a single port, and plugging it into a new one may require drivers being installed again

Thanks for helping !

Atasas

Quickest/simplest way- do a system restore
Start; all programs; system tools; System restore/back up, slect date to be ie 15/01/2010 and follow prompts... yes, yeas, ok, yes, ok

exup

if the restore doesnt work - Try checking the router status screen (though a connection that is working) to check on the attached devices.
As you say you can connect with an ethernet cable -doesnt seem to be anything (like a software firewall) that is blocking it, and you can connect to the router. I wonder if there is an IP address issue for some reason ?

cornerstone13

Atasas - the system restore says "your computer cannot be restored to 15/01/10 system checkpoint - no changes have been made to your computer" (it was after this date that the laptop stopped connecting)

Exup - the router status screen shows both of the wired connections but not the Xbox which is currently on line. IP addresses are set to dynamic.

Atasas

well try again to some other date (earlier, that when probs started)
also- exit AV and other/all running applications prior to starting Restore; also, did you check on a box to show earlier restore points?

cornerstone13

Hi, I did try earlier dates when I got that message, but I get the same message. All other programmes were closed.

exup

cornerstone13 wrote: »

Exup - the router status screen shows both of the wired connections but not the Xbox which is currently on line. IP addresses are set to dynamic.

does it show up the problem laptop when trying to connect wirelessly?

With the Wireless connected to the router (not the ethernet cable) try this
Start > Run > tyoe in cmd
When the black box appears type in ipconfig

This should list your wireless network adapter IP
something like 192.168.1.?
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.1.1

it may be slightly different depending on your router

cornerstone13

The "black box" shows:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix: [just blank here]
IP Address: 192.168.2.5
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 192.168.2.2

Green.Lander

sounds like the pcmcia card connect it via ethernet cable test and that will tell you if that is the case