Wake-on-LAN not functioning in Vista

[Muse]

In Device Manager for my wireless adapter, under Power Management, Allow this device to wake the computer is greyed out. The laptop manufacturer's page for this new laptop (under Communications) indicates that it's Wake-on-LAN ready:

Acer 6530-6522 specifications

Is there a strategy I can pursue to troubleshoot this? Some setting in Windows? I tried unlocking my user account, but it's still greyed out.

 

[Muse]

Windows Update has repeatedly tried to install two updates for the Atheros adapters, one being the ethernet, the other the wireless (AR5B91) adapter. The updates fail every time. 😕

 

[JackMDS]

Even if hardware has certain capabilities the OS is Not aware of them if the drivers are programed to handle them.

Try to look for the Atheros OEM drivers for the device and load them instead of the current drivers.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Even if hardware has certain capabilities the OS is Not aware of them if the drivers are programed to handle them.

Try to look for the Atheros OEM drivers for the device and load them instead of the current drivers.

I did some looking and not having good luck finding the drivers. Will keep looking.

The drivers I'm seeing appear to be earlier versions. I'm running 7.6.1.237 now, dated 4/2009.

There appear to be a lot of scummy if not outright trecherous driver sites out there. It's a minefield. A lot of them want you to download a driver evaluation utility and they are highly suspect!

Thanks for the help.

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Muse
There appear to be a lot of scummy if not outright treacherous driver sites out there. It's a minefield. A lot of them want you to download a driver evaluation utility and they are highly suspect!

Thanks for the help.

Yeah it is true, if you use Google (or any other search engine) there is huge amount of sites that would Not offer upfront the Drivers but instead would force you to install a their Driver Scanner that would report to them info. about the computer.

I rather stop using the computer then installing this Scanners. :thumbsup:

The trick is not to search directly for Drivers but to look for the support site of the Manufacturer/OEM.

Example, http://partner.atheros.com/Drivers.aspx

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Originally posted by: Muse
There appear to be a lot of scummy if not outright treacherous driver sites out there. It's a minefield. A lot of them want you to download a driver evaluation utility and they are highly suspect!

Thanks for the help.

Yeah it is true, if you use Google (or any other search engine) there is huge amount of sites that would Not offer upfront the Drivers but instead would force you to install a their Driver Scanner that would report to them info. about the computer.

I rather stop using the computer then installing this Scanners. :thumbsup:

The trick is not to search directly for Drivers but to look for the support site of the Manufacturer/OEM.

Example, http://partner.atheros.com/Drivers.aspx

Thank you. I saw that site Googling, and thought that it looked pretty genuine, but just looking at a URL it's often hard to tell if a site is for real or phishing! I'll check them out!

Edit: I did look carefully at that site, thinking it looked very for real. But I couldn't figure out what to download. I figure it has to be one of these two:

AR8131_AR8132_v1.0.0.23_WHQL.rar 3425K
AR81FamilyWinSetup_1.0.0.45_WHQL.rar 2357K

So, I just downloaded both of them. Which one pertains to my need here? 😕

Edit2: Actually, there are at least two other Vista drivers packs on that page. How do I figure out which has a driver for my wireless LAN?