Wireless connection.....HELP NEEDED!

I have a ze4500. Last week I was on the internet and for some reason my laptop froze, so I force quit. When I tried to turn on my laptop again, I couldn't get through. I tried everything and anything to get to work, but got nothing. So I figured I either just damaged something or got a virus. I was able to recover and now my laptop is working fine. Only problem is, I cant hook it up to my wireless internet. I've tried lots of times to connect it, but I guess I'm doing something wrong or I don't know what I'm doing at all.(Computers are not my forte) I would assume that since my laptop was able to detect the wireless before, it should be able to do it again. Like I said before, I've tried to get it to connect, but no luck. I have a linkys router, and I know its working fine b/c I'm on the internet on my other computer. So can anyone help me out? I need the steps to connect to the internet. If anyone can tell me how to get my laptop to detect the available wireless connections, I would greatly appreciate it. This is like a serious emergency, especially since I'm going back to school in 3 weeks, so please help me out. Thanks so much in advance.

 

Did you turn the wireless switch on the outside of your laptop to off? (assuming it has one)

Does your laptop have a proprietary wireless network program (e.g. Dell Wireless Utility) or do you use Window's built in Wireless network utility?

What operating system are you running? Vista or XP?

Does your system have a built-in wireless card?

feed us some more info, and I'm sure we can help you out =D

...I'm sure if we can't then our RWH ( resident wireless hero): WirelessMan will set you straight.

 

Ok...

1) If the wireless switch your talking about is the blue light, then no its on. I've tried turning it off by holding it down, but it always stays on.

2)Not sure if I have wireless utility or built in wireless network utility (is there a way to check?)

3) I have XP

4)and about the wireless card, where would it be located? I guess I have one, but can't find where it is. Thanks for all your help!

 

Try this:
http://ecross.mvps.org/howto/configwlan.htm

 

I took a look at your laptop user manual--man, what a piece of crap....I've seen potty training manuals with better instructions.

Start > Right click MY NETWORK PLACES, choose PROPERTIES. Right click your wireless network, choose PROPERTIES

Choose the WIRELESS tab.

This will tell you if you are using Windows, or a third party (tells you this by saying you're not using windows.

If you are using windows. you should see a little monitor in your system tray by the clock....right click on that, choose VIEW WIRELESS CONNECTIONS...this will bring up a screen and you double click on one of these and it will connect you to the network. It may ask you for encrytpion keys or passphrase depending on your setup

 

LOL
.........

 

here is your comps manual for wireless network setup
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00062444.pdf

 

i wipe my baby son's butt with that manual....

 

Thanks for the help, but I still seem to be having a problem. When I open my Network Connections Window, the manual says to right click the Wireless Network Connections icon, but I don't see it anywhere. The manual Meetloaf sent me, mentioned that if I didnt see it, I would I have to set the wireless zero configuration to automatic, but it doesnt say how to do that. (yeah the manual is a piece of crap, thats why I'm on here). So can anyone help me out asap? Thanks so much!

 

START > RUN, TYPE
SERVICES.MSC
<ENTER>

scroll down on the right and find wireless zero configruation
double click, choose AUTOMATIC in startup type. click ok

(click START button while you're at it or reboot)

 

here try this

start >run

services.msc
click ok
scroll down to wireless zero configuration
you now have the option to stop the service

you will then have to change the startup type from automatic to manual
go to action>properties

change the startup type from automatic to disabled

you will then need to isntall the drivers for your wireless adapter.

don't know if that will work, but its worth a try

 

^^oh wait..my bad..
it said automatic didn't it.. well then i don't think you would want to stop it..
but if the previous post one didn't work you could try that...

 

thanks. when I followed those steps, I noticed that it was already on automatic. so why can't I find a Wireless Network Connections icon? could there be another thing to try? thanks

 

then try the other steps i posted ( a couple posts up)

 

Yeah I tried those too, but nothing. Just a thought, when I recovered, is it possible that maybe something went wrong when I restored everything? My laptop is like brand new again, and when I activated it, everything was ok. Could it be possible that something with the Wireless network didnt install correctly?

 

Perhaps...a good idea might be to uninstall your wireless card and re-install it from scratch.

 

Ok I guess I could try that. I took a look at it, would I be able to do it myself, or would I have to go somewhere and do it?

 

It's pretty easy usually. Take a look in your Add/Remove Programs screen and see if there's a Wireless utility installed, if not, then all you'd need to do is remove your wireless card drivers. Sometimes you can do this in the Add/Remove Programs section as well, but if not, then you can go to the Device Manager (hit Windows+Pause, Select HArdware, Select Device Manager) and right click on your Wireless Card under Network Controllers and uninstall the driver.

Now, before you go off doing all this make sure you have everything ready to install. So download what ever you need to or get the CDs or whatever is needed to reinstall and then have at it.