Fixed one home network issue. Now I have another.

[2timer]

Hey guys. I have a computer I bought used that already had Windows 7 installed on it. The hard drive was so bloated I wanted to clean install but I didn't want to purchase another copy of Windows 7. So I kept the old install.

I cleaned the disk up as best I could. After doing a lot of disk repair, I had problems connecting to the wireless network. Whenever I attempted to start a download, the internet connection would shut off and would not restart without a reinstall.

Turns out it was something at the TCP/IP level that I fixed using "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled". So that issue was solved. But there is still one more issue I'm having: for some reason Windows 7 sometimes says "No connections available" and I can't connect or find a network without reinstalling the wireless adapter driver again.

I know there is an available network, and I can't quite figure out why it sometimes works and sometimes ceases and refuses to find a connection unless I reinstall the adapter driver. If I do that it works fine again for some time. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with all the residual crap on the HDD after cleaning and also a connection protocol. Is there a protocol I need to lighten so that Windows 7 will "see" the darned network consistently?

Thanks in advance for any help. ()

 

[VirtualLarry]

Is it using the built-in Windows 7 connection tools? Or vendor-specific ones? (RaLink, RealTek, Intel, etc.)?

Your router may just be too far away. Windows 7 likes signal to be two or more bars. Two or less bars often results in a dropped connection. (Previous behavior from XP was to hold the connection open, only with horrible speeds, like 1Mbit/sec or less.)

 

[2timer]

Is it using the built-in Windows 7 connection tools? Or vendor-specific ones? (RaLink, RealTek, Intel, etc.)?

Your router may just be too far away. Windows 7 likes signal to be two or more bars. Two or less bars often results in a dropped connection. (Previous behavior from XP was to hold the connection open, only with horrible speeds, like 1Mbit/sec or less.)

Larry I'm using the built-in manager with the OS. I have the vendor manager on a CD that's hidden somewhere, but I just decided it would be easier to download the standalone adapter driver from Netgear than go hunting for it.

I guess that Windows 7 doesn't like weak signals? I don't believe that signal strength is the issue, because I pick up wireless fine from even further away than that on my cheapie smartphone.

Oddly, since making this post, the issue hasn't manifested itself, and everything is working A-OK. I still believe it has to do with some connection protocol at the OS level, since all my other devices work perfectly. It's just the spyware riddled hard drive giving me problems!

 

[Enigma102083]

I'm confused as to why you can't extract the Win7 key and just reinstall.