Formatted Laptop - Wifi not working

[Miklebud]

Okay, so I just formatted my girlfriend's Gateway NV59C. I reformatted using a legit copy of a Non-OEM Win7 Pro. Upon reinstalling and getting all the updates and drivers, the wireless network doesn't want to be recognized.

I've tried all three of the suggested Wireless LAN drivers here: http://support.gateway.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?tab=1&modelId=2380 to no avail. (I've tried them all at separate times, with uninstalling the others first.) There is a Broadcom Ethernet Adapter, but I'm assuming that's just the wired internet. Also in Device Manager in the 'Other Devices' there is a Network Controller, but there are no drivers installed. There is nothing there for details as to what Network Controller it actually is. And yes, the wireless router is up and running fine.

Sadly, I don't have the disks that came with the Laptop (they're with the girlfriend, and I won't have access to them til Friday.) So, I'm just looking for solutions until then...

Thanks!!

 

[gsaldivar]

Did you try factory restore before formatting the drive?

Did you erase the recovery partition............?

 

[Miklebud]

Did you try factory restore before formatting the drive?

Did you erase the recovery partition............?

I did not erase the recovery partition, all 13GB are intact. I tried the factory restore before formatting, with no success. It kept reporting errors.

 

[Zap]

Maybe it is disabled? Some notebooks have some system software specific to it that allows hot keys. Get that installed, and then hit the hot key combination (maybe Fn+something) to enable the wireless adapter.

 

[Miklebud]

Maybe it is disabled? Some notebooks have some system software specific to it that allows hot keys. Get that installed, and then hit the hot key combination (maybe Fn+something) to enable the wireless adapter.

Correct. They're all working at the moment (brightness, volume, sleep, etc), except apparently the Wifi one (Fn+F2). Which doesn't seem to affect my situation. I was hoping it would be that simple. Guess I have to wait til I get my hands on the DVD's.

 

[gsaldivar]

Longshot... check BIOS to make sure that it's enabled.

Good luck

 

[Miklebud]

Longshot... check BIOS to make sure that it's enabled.

Good luck

Yup, tried that as well. There are no options mentioning Wireless anything. Gonna try those 3 Wireless LAN options again...

 

[Lanyap]

Try using PC-Wizard from cpuid.com to detect the wireless card.
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/pc-wizard.html

If that does not work then you will need to do it manually.
- Open device manager
- Right click on the Network Controller in 'Other Devices'
- Click on Properties
- Click on Details tab
- Select "Hardware Ids" in the dropdown
- You should see something like this:
PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1677&SUBSYS_01771028&REV_01\4&1D7EFF9E&0&00E0
In this example, 14E4 is the vendor id and 1677 is the device id.
Plug the device id into the PCI database website. Verify the vendor id when the list comes up.
http://www.pcidatabase.com/

 

[Miklebud]

Fixed it on my own. Had to unscrew the back panels of the laptop to find the model number of the NIC. Found out it was a Realtek RTL8192. And moments later, I was all set. Thanks for the suggestions, guys!!