Dell Insprion 8600 Wi-Fi driver needed

[m3rk14]

My sister had some problems with her laptop so she asked me to sort it out.

I had to format it and put original win XP home on it and now i cant get the wireless to work, i have downloaded a few drivers off support.dell.com but it still dont work.

Please help guys...I will check often for replys...

Thanks, Mark.

 

[Leeky]

You need to head to www.dell.com or www.dell.co.uk depending on where you are, and then in the support area of the website enter the service tag number, and confirm the current OS.

You then just need to install the Wireless driver, and the utility for it if you so wish.

 

[m3rk14]

I have installed all of the drivers off the part of the site and it still dont work.
I really am at a loss...

 

[Leeky]

Could you let us know the service tag, your operating system, and can you confirm the manufacturer of the wireless device please?

 

[LookinAround]

Please provide the info Leeky requested so we can double check but also why do you think this is a driver issue?
> Can you see the wireless adapter listed in Device Manager?
> Do you see the wireless adapter or any other devices with YELLOW icons appear in Device Manager?

List any Problem Devices

• Click Start->Run, enter: msinfo32. Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
• Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
• If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post
• On the other hand, if no devices are listed, tell me so

 

[m3rk14]

Here is the info you requested,

Multimedia Audio Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C5&SUBSYS_01911028&REV_01\3&61AAA01&0&FD The drivers for this device are not installed.
Network Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1043&SUBSYS_25618086&REV_04\4&39A85202&0&18F0 The drivers for this device are not installed.
PCI Modem PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C6&SUBSYS_542214F1&REV_01\3&61AAA01&0&FE The drivers for this device are not installed.
Video Controller (VGA Compatible) PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E50&SUBSYS_20011028&REV_00\4&1BFA44D4&0&0008 The drivers for this device are not installed.

 

[m3rk14]

I know i shouldn't double post, but can someone answer me please.
My sister keeps asking about it.

 

[LookinAround]

No problem to "bump" your thread after waiting a few days In fact, I'm glad you did as I don't recall having seen your last response.

The Dell drivers for the Inspiron 8600 are HERE

That Network Controller in your list is Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter. You'll find Dell's driver HERE among the other 8600 drivers.

Network Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1043&SUBSYS_25618086&REV_04\4&39A85202&0&18F0 The drivers for this device are not installed

As to the other Problem Devices

Multimedia Audio Controller PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C5&SUBSYS_01911028&REV_01\3&61AAA01&0&FD The drivers for this device are not installed.
PCI Modem PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C6&SUBSYS_542214F1&REV_01\3&61AAA01&0&FE The drivers for this device are not installed.
Video Controller (VGA Compatible) PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4E50&SUBSYS_20011028&REV_00\4&1BFA44D4&0&0008 The drivers for this device are not installed.

Find the other drivers also on Dell support site
> Multimedia Controller => Install the Audio driver
> PCI Modem => From the Communication category, install the Broadcom Driver for the Modem
> Video Controller => From the Video category, try the latest ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 series driver

plus if you have a working network adapter, you should also be able to rt click a device in Device Manager, select Update Driver and allow Windows to try and find an updated driver (sometimes, not always, finds things for you)

/* EDIT */
p.s. One way to try and translate those cryptic IDs in Problem Devices is the Unknown Device Tool. Since Dell listed sooo many different wireless hardware adapters to choose from.. to figure out which one you had, I ran Unknown Device Tool, clicked Tools->Lookup Hardware ID. Copy/Pasted the PCI ID string. Then your Network Controller device appeared as

 

[m3rk14]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

That seems to have worked.

 

[LookinAround]

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear it worked

 

[m3rk14]

Hello again,

For some unknown reason the Wifi has completely vanished.

What i mean is, there is no evidence that there is a card on the machine, nothing in Network Connections in Control panel, no icon in the taskbar.

However pressing FN+F2 lets me turn the thing on/off.

I have no idea what has caused this, i haven't done anything that i shouldn't of. I was mealy setting the home page on firefox and trying to put Virgin media Internet security on there as McAfee wouldn't work.

Have you ANY idea what would cause this, and maybe how to fix the problem??

Regards, Mark.

 

[LookinAround]

For some unknown reason the Wifi has completely vanished.

What i mean is, there is no evidence that there is a card on the machine, nothing in Network Connections in Control panel, no icon in the taskbar.

Ouch. Sorry to hear...

When you say "it completely disappeared"... Always start by first looking for a Plug and Play device in Device Manager. If Windows can detect the hardware, it will appear in Device Manager.
> Is the wireless card in Device Manager under Network Adapters?
> Also check if there's an "Other" device category and if any sign of a network or unknown device there

If you find it in Device Manager then use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the driver. Then try installing it again. Hope that might help

/* EDIT */
If you can't find it in Device Manager, check your BIOS settings. Is there a BIOS setting to disable the wireless? When hardware is disabled in BIOS, Windows won't detect it

 

[m3rk14]

I have checked Device manager, and it was present under network.
i then unistalled the drivers like you said, then reinstalled them..

But when i did it before a screen poped up with a few wireless connections on it,
this time nothing. I did however get another icon in the taskbar (seen in pic bottom right)

This is what poped up when i double clicked the new icon


EDIT, first picture URL didnt work.

 

[LookinAround]

Here's a guess or at least something to try

Good news is hardware is detected and driver running OK. Problem seems to be with Intel's Wireless Config Utility. Maybe one reason why:

MS XP provides its own Wireless config service called Wireless Zero. My guess is it might also be running and the two are conflicting when trying to use/config the wireless.

Disable XP's own wireless config service. Click Start->Run, enter services.msc. Scroll down to Wireless Zero Configuration. You want to disable it so it won't run at startup. Rt click it, select Properties. Set StartupType= Disable. Click OK. Reboot.

/* edit */
As example, you can see the service on a machine where it's set to Automatic (so it always starts on startup). Disable it on your machine.

 

[m3rk14]

Nah mate, nothing happened.
Still dont work

 

[LookinAround]

Rats!

You can also try it the other way around. Turn off the Intel Wireless so it doesn't run at startup (I'll guess the option is under Tools somewherein the Intel Wireless window). Set the XP Wireless Zero back to Automatic. This time you should see the Wireless Zero icon appear in lower rt among other notification icons to click and open it.

btw.. is the wireless adapter still missing or there in Network Connections window? Does it say "Not connected" or Disabled?

 

[m3rk14]

Nope still nothing... =/

 

[LookinAround]

One last thing i think to try.. Tap F8 on power up to start computer in Safe Mode with Networking. Then look at network connections.
> Does wireless adapter appear when you start in Safe Mode? Try to get it to work in Safe Mode

Otherwise i'm stumped. sorry. my someon else may have other info to help

 

[m3rk14]

nah man still nothing, can any one else help. im really stumped!

 

[kristain]

Hi,

Go to Dell - Select your location from the top left drop-down menu. Then selet your support category and navigate your way to your product. Note the > Drivers and Downloads category in the left-hand menu. Click on > Drivers Home and > Select Model