Problem With Network Adapter After Upgrading From Basic To Premium

Blitz23

Member
Hello -

I have an Inspiron 1521 and today upgraded it from Home Basic to Home Premium (had to do a "clean" install, though my old files seem to have been saved in a Windows.old folder). Now I'm trying to connect to my router wirelessly, however my laptop can't find any networks when I search (using wired connection now; usually my network and a few others appear). When I performed a diagnostics test I read "The wireless network adapter on this computer cannot connect to a wireless network" and two options pop up:
1) Click for information on troubleshooting network adapter problems (not helpful)
2) The network adapter "Broadcom 802.11n" is experiencing driver or hardware related issues

In Device Manager for the Broadcom network adapter there is a little caution symbol and under Device Status it says: "This device cannot start. (Code 10)
Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft and to see if there is a solution available (no response)." I tried uninstall/reinstalling the driver, however it failed to reinstall and it was supposedly up to date.


So I'm not really sure what happened. I'm not very gifted at working with computers so I may have overlooked something simple. Any ideas on what I can do next? I'm somewhat wishing that I could just go back to Basic and erase the upgrade, but I don't understand how upgrading it damaged the adapter.

I appreciate any possible assistance.
 
Go intot he device manager and lead the Driver Wizard to the Windows.old folder and see if it can find drivers. If not go to the Dell site and get the updated netowrk drivers for your laptop.
 
I've tried to reinstall the drivers but I keep getting the error message "Device driver software was not successfully installed. Please consult with your device manufacturer for assistance getting this device installed." They were up to date beforehand.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. In the end I just got frustrated and restored my system back to Basic and the network adapter works fine now. I may try again to upgrade and see what happens, but do you or does anyone have any idea what caused this problem? Why would a jump from Basic to Premium affect the network adapter in this way and is there any way to avoid it in the future?
 
Well from the sound of it you started the install from within Vista. Which is used for upgrade purposes. Which is always a tough thing. Most of the time if there is anything wrong, like spyware or corrupt driver, it will really put a hamper on the update.

If you have the Home Premium DVD boot from that and install. Totally fresh and clean. Just make sure to back up first.
 
I bought the Windows Anytime Upgrade Pack to upgrade from Basic to Premium, and used that while logged on Basic to begin and carry out the upgrade process, then when I booted back up the adapter was messed up. I used the same Upgrade disc to access the PCRestore option to return the computer back to factory settings. If I used the disc to upgrade again I'm assuming the same error will occur unless it was a freak thing, but I'd just like to have a heads up to know if there's a way to have the adapter function properly with Home Premium. I don't think there's any issue with viruses or faulty drivers, I'm just wondering if there's some compatibility issue with Home Premium but that seems kind of odd.
 
Like Alex says, if you want to try the upgrade proccess again, boot from the upgrade disc and do a clean install after backing up your data. Do you know what wireless card you're using? I re-installed Vista myself on my Insprion 1525 laptop and the wireless card worked immediately. I'm using a Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini Card. You can get drivers for your laptop by visiting support.dell.com and selecting your model. Just make sure that it is the right driver for your card/OS so there are no installation errors.
 
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An "Upgrade" disk contains the full installation media, exactly the same as a "full retail" or "OEM" in the contents.
The serial number tells the setup program what version (basic -> ultimate), and what restrictions to apply when installing.
Your serial number identifies "premium" and "upgrade", so if you choose to do a full install, it will require proof during setup, that you already own a lower grade. It will ask you to show it the earlier qualifying OS. This is easy if you have an earlier version on CD/DVD (an XP CD perhaps or the recovery media that came with your PC)
I've never upgraded a system with a recovery partition, so have no experience of that, but I assume you could point it at that too when asked.
 
I'm using a Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card and there's a Broadcom Integrated Controller. I remember when I read the error message that it said my Broadcom 802.11n network adapter wasn't functioning, so it appears differently on Basic. I may try the process again in the next few days and I'll try to boot from the disc, I also found the drivers online so I'll see if I'll be able to download them should I get the error again. Thanks for the responses!
 
Ok so I realized today that I didn't have the Service Pack 1 downloaded for my laptop, although I thought I did. So I installed that and the "Upgrade" option became available (before I could only choose the custom "clean" install). So I upgraded and the adapter worked fine. I did have some problems with a failed update and the audio output not working, but I got them fixed so everything's finally good to go. Thanks a lot for all the replies and advice.
 
I was on Dell for a total of about 3 and a half hours today and they finally gave up and said they were going to send me a free hard drive because they were not able to come up with a solution.

So yeah, I guess that's kind of like Area 51, but for computers. They don't want to know what the problem is and they will silence you with gifts.

Now I wait for my hard drive to arrive.

Win.
 
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