This weekend I had to help a friend fix their laptop. It was an old dell LT, running windows XP, that worked when plugged into the network cable, but couldn’t find any wireless networks. There is a few things you can try to do to fix this.

Make sure there isn’t an on and off switch for the wireless radio. Look around the machine. The front and side of the machine is a common place for an external wireless Internet switch.

Check to see if the “wireless zero” service is enabled. Windows runs on a bunch of background services that  most users don’t know about. There are services for automatic updates, printing, and pretty much everything that windows supports. Anyway, pushing ahead, this is how you check to see if this service is running.

1. Right click on “my computer”.
2. Click on “manage”
3. A new window will open called “computer management”. On the left menu, click services.
4. Once u click services, a list of services should populate in the right frame. Look for “wireless zero”.
5. Right click on wireless zero and click properties.
6. Make sure that the service is started, and set to “automatic”.

Your computer might use 3rd part software to connect to wireless networks. Some wireless netcards need to use a 3rd party software to work correctly. Netgear, Belkin and Linksys wireless adapters are common external wireless Internet adapters. They normally plug into a USB port,  a PCI slot, or a PCMCIA slot. These attachments need to use 3rd party software to connect to wireless routers. You should search the start menu and the program files folder on the C drive for software that may be related to these devices. If you can’t find them, then you should contact the support center for the brand you are troubleshooting.

The Computer Might have a hot key that enables and disables the internal wireless hardware. Some machines have built in wireless hardware. Manufactures like DELL and HP, like to clutter their keyboards with hot keys that do extra functions. Some of these functions could be: changing the brightness of the monitor, changing battery power, raising and lowering the volume, and many other things. You might also notice a key labeled “fn”. “fn” stands for function, the function key works the same way shift works when making symbols like #$%^&. You hold the fn key down and it will changed the function of certain buttons. On some machines, fn + f2 will toggle the internal wireless radio from on to off. A lot keyboards and computer manuals do not label this. Make sure to hit it only once, and then try to refresh your network list.

I hope this little guide puts you on the right path to getting online! Good luck!

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