Vista's wireless capabilities are [SOLVED]!

[mawk]

So, as some of you know, I got a new laptop just a while ago. A couple weeks or something? Well, I ignored most people when they told me to upgrade back to XP -- I'm not sure why, maybe it was just Vista's shiny lustre and the awe that comes from being able to make my window bars a translucent red. I still dun wanna.

Anyway, this is my latest issue. My wireless capabilities took a massive dive around this weekend. I didn't really do anything notable aside from browsing the darker side of the Net (no, not the red light district,) but I've scanned for viruses multiple times using both McAffee and Windows Defender, and come up with nothing multiple times. Therefore, I don't think it's a virus -- and if it's a virus, it's a damn crafty one and I'm rather screwed unless I want to root around in my WINDOWS folder like I had to back when I had my first Dell and before I learned that the Windows OS is far more susceptible to viruses than Macintosh.

My room and the basement used to be easy places to connect. Now my room is on the finnicky outer limits of the network, and I haven't been able to connect from the basement in a while. I've checked things out on my old XP, and the router hasn't undergone anything tremendously awful since I'm still able to connect with relative ease. So, it's all in my shiny new Dell Inspiron Thing From Hell.

I've Googled possible solutions here, and it was apparently a pretty big problem -- back in March of 2007. I'm not sure if updating my drivers will really still fix it, and my capacity to download things is considerably limited. Another suggested issue was the configuration I had for the router -- since the wizard configured it automatically when I first connected and I doubt anything spectacular has changed.

SO.

What I ask of you, strangers on a website centered around an amateur independent game engine, is that you toss me a rope here. I can quite live without one of these "internets," but I don't think a forum I moderate would be very happy if I disappeared from existence -- or maybe it would, I'm not sure how public opinion towards me goes around here. I know Shiroun hates me with a burning passion for the whole virgin thing, but the rest of you are enigmas wrapped in mysteries wrapped in varying amounts of douching fluid.

I kid, I kid. You know I love you.

Anyway, what the hell (barring creepy crawlies) could prompt a Vista computer to suddenly have such difficulty connecting to a WEP encrypted 801.11(b or g, I forget) wireless network? I've tried the Wireless Catching Utility thing that lets you know what your wireless card can see, the other thing that lets you know what your wireless network can see, the wizard, everything -- the wireless card is just a lot less attentive to the wireless network.

If the shit really hits the fan and a driver update doesn't work, should I try a system reformat? I assume that "reformat" is the thing that basically re-installs your OS from the ground up like it was when you first booted.

And if I should, then, uh, is there some kind of thawspace where I can keep stuff to not be swept away by the reformat? iTunes is purely awful with its purchase support -- you buy music from iTunes, and you better hope to god that you keep those files forever.

Um, yeah. So help me out. I don't know a lot about computers except that if you press buttons things happen on the screen. Like this one time I saw this weird frog picture with words next to it? It was good times.

 

[Xilef]

Vista's wireless in my opinion is much better than XP's, took a leaf out of Mac OSX and made the wireless simple to use. However, compatibility with programs has screwed over Vista wireless quite spectaculary in the past.
Q1: Have you installed any AOL products? AOL on Vista fails the wireless completely. I speak from experience and knowledge.
Q2: Do you have access to your router? You might need to change some of the settings to make it more compatible, ie: If there are options that have this: XX+YY rather than XX or YY then pick XX+YY.
Q3: When did this start happening? Was it when you installed a port-heavy program?
Q4: Is your router Netgear? (If it is then give up now and buy a buffalo) Netgear is the popular option, but they seem to hate PCs and keep the internet slow for them, they're perfect for Macs, but PCs+Netgear Routers=Slow internet, blocked ports that cannot be opened, security risks, etc.

I learned that the Windows OS is far more susceptible to viruses than Macintosh.

Dude, have you ever even turned on a computer before? O_o
Worst Mac virus I've seen was on System 7 to OS 9, all it did was make your "h" key come out as capital "H" and was so easy to fix. (2nd worst I've seen was Elk Cloner!)

 

[mawk]

Vista's wireless in my opinion is much better than XP's, took a leaf out of Mac OSX and made the wireless simple to use. However, compatibility with programs has screwed over Vista wireless quite spectaculary in the past.

If by "simple" you mean "delegate everything to a massively unreliable wizard," then sure.

Q1: Have you installed any AOL products? AOL on Vista fails the wireless completely. I speak from experience and knowledge.

No.

Q2: Do you have access to your router? You might need to change some of the settings to make it more compatible, ie: If there are options that have this: XX+YY rather than XX or YY then pick XX+YY.

Yes. The thing auto-configured itself when it first connected to this network, and nothing important has changed since then.

Q3: When did this start happening? Was it when you installed a port-heavy program?

Sunday last weekend. I installed uTorrent then, but then uninstalled it when it started creeping me out.

Q4: Is your router Netgear? (If it is then give up now and buy a buffalo) Netgear is the popular option, but they seem to hate PCs and keep the internet slow for them, they're perfect for Macs, but PCs+Netgear Routers=Slow internet, blocked ports that cannot be opened, security risks, etc.

Nope. Apple Airport Extreme router.

I learned that the Windows OS is far more susceptible to viruses than Macintosh.

Dude, have you ever even turned on a computer before? O_o
Worst Mac virus I've seen was on System 7 to OS 9, all it did was make your "h" key come out as capital "H" and was so easy to fix. (2nd worst I've seen was Elk Cloner!)

Dude, do you know what "susceptible" means? @_@;;

 

[Heronaut]

Sunday last weekend. I installed uTorrent then, but then uninstalled it when it started creeping me out.

Did you download anything off uTorrent?

 

[Xilef]

uTorrent must have done something to keyports. Have you tried resetting your router to factory settings?

 

[mawk]

It's not my router. Things work fine on my old XP with no reduction in speed or range -- read my post, dude, it's long, but the good stuff is in there somewhere. :P

Did you download anything off uTorrent?

Not to completion. And like I've said, viruses aren't likely -- if it's a virus, there's nothing I can do anyway.

 

[mawk]

Update!

I'm gonna reboot my Vista from the disc. I figure that if the problem can't be fixed by deleting every file and setting and then restoring them to their factory specifications, then it's a hardware thing and I'm lucky I'm warranted until 2011.

And I'm lucky I don't have anything important on this computer

And that (if it's a virus problem) it didn't get to kill my hard disc before I did this.

I'm still curious as to how this might've happened, though. Any final words?

 

[Toams]

You might hate me for saying this, but...
Since there are only 2 places in your house that have connections issues..
Why not buy some wires?

It'll give you faster internets, and you'll have no more problems.

Though of course if you don't like wires..
^_~

 

[4StarGeneral]

I seem to have had the same problem, and it was most likely Limewire's fault, but after I re-installed Vista, everything was fine. Also, not all virus' will kill your harddisk, there is one specific virus out there that I've gotten numerous times (on purpose) that will autoclose windows explorer everytime you connect to the internet. More of an annoyance than anything. (I've yet to be able to fix it...)

Then again, I now get no phone reception with ANY company in my house. :wink: So who the hell knows...

 

[mawk]

Well, I restored everything to factory settings a while back, then got a driver update for my card. Things seemed finnicky for a while, but I can at least connect to the internet from my bed now, if not from my desk. The speed varies from 11.0mbps to 24.0mbps, which is very respectable considering how things were not too long ago.

I'm not sure what did it, exactly, but every indication is that a small localized miracle occurred within the vicinity of my computer.

So, I guess this is resolved for now? Second trial: the basement. If it all crumbles down, I'll reopen this thread saying so because I'm a whore who enjoys making strangers solve his problems.

Thanks, everyone, for your input and advice! :D

P.S. I'm getting a new wireless card when I can. Word is that the Dell Wireless 1505 801.11n Draft or whatever is just a bad card, and there's a Linksys Expresscard that would do nicely.

P.P.S. Why the shit does the Inspiron 1420 not have a cardbus slot?

P.P.P.S. I'd love to trail a wire to my room for the internet convenience it would bring, but it'd kind of defeat the purpose of having a laptop in the first place.