My sister was in touch with me yesterday as when she booted her XP Home laptop up she got the dreaded error:

windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows system 32 etc etc
You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup cd-rom

I went through a few things with her over the phone and it wouldn't boot into safe mode or last good config etc .. so with her having only restore cd's she ended up going to a local pc repair shop where they done the biz and had it sorted out for her.

Now the problem she is having is that although the internet works fine via ethernet she cannot connect to her wireless network.

The adapter is finding it without problem and its dead strong, infact there are other networks showing too ..... when she clicks to connect to her own security enabled one she gets the message:

Windows could not connect to the wireless network, it may no longer be in range, click to refresh ... (words to that effect)

She gets no option to enter a network key or anything like that

Normally the pc just connects instantly.

I have talked her through going via the properties of her wireless connection/wireless tab then click on Add where she entered the details of the Sidd and then her key but it gave errors about the key being so many letters or something ??
I thought perhaps the router is using wga instead of wep .... without being there I can't troubleshoot and check things out as I would and having Vista in front of me makes it harder to remember what she'll be seeing on her screen :?

Are there any more steps I can tell her to try, (nice and clear lol ) we have done the usual stuff first like rebooting the router.

More info in just in case:

The repair shop put AVG 8 on , she previously still had 7.5
They have installed SP3

I'm hoping to get back to her tonight so any help a.s.a.p will be really appreciated

Thanks in advance

Anne

The most likely problem, if Windows hasn't been reinstalled, is that the existing wireless "profile" needs to be removed. Then she can go through the procedure to "Connect" again when she should be prompted to enter the WEP/WPA key. Give it a try anyway.

Thanks for the quick reply Mike .... could I ask one more favour ?
I am going to get my sister to load this page to follow the advice, could you possibly post a screenshot of where she is to remove the existing profile.

(I'm sure it will help others too who might find this via a search) :wink:

Anne

If she's using Windows' Wireless Zero Configuration, right click the Wireless Network Connection in the Network Connections Folder, select Properties then the Wireless Networks tab. Highlight the existing profile and click the Remove button.



If she's using third-party software supplied with the wireless adapter, there will be a 'profile' saved within its settings, but the software is all different. I would strongly recommend that Wireless Zero Configuration is used to manage the wireless networking. It can be enabled by going into Services ("Start > Run", type services.msc and click OK), scrolling down to the Wireless Zero Configuration service, double clicking it to open its Prioperties sheet and then Starting the service and setting its Startup Type to Automatic. The problem is that some WiFi software overrides WZC each time the computer is booted and the only solution to that is to uninstall the third-party software.

Thanks again Mike ....

I'm a bit lost with this but will phone her in a bit .... I am sure she told me that the Preferred Networks box was completely empty

I will ask her about third party software but I'm sure she doesn't have any installed. Wireless Zero C has normally handled the connection.

Just on the of chance:

Does she have a router on the system?
Are there any other PC's?

If there is a router, she/you could decide to re-set the router!
Somewhere on the back of the router there should either be a re-set button or a small hole to insert a pin into to re-set.

Also, you could try disabling any AV and Firewall. (not for too long though)
Just to see if this helps.
If it does, then switch them back on, "one-by-one" to see when the problem re-occurs.

*************************
edit

And, would it be of any use to remove the adapter in Device Manager?

And, Would it be advisable to try "System Restore" ?

Hi oldfogy ,

thanks for your reply ..... just a quick update on the situation;

will be going through some of the suggestions here later this evening, if as a last resort we need to reset the router I am suggesting she leaves that until she returns from holiday. (She goes away in the morning and my neice will want the pc up and running, currently she can at least use ethernet and I don't want to chance things going belly up .... my neice gets facebook withdrawals hehe )

Will post back and let you all know how it goes.

Thanks again all

Anne

Update:

still no go I'm afraid

Turned off windows firewall and rebooted but made no difference.

The properties window of the network connection/wireless tab has nothing in the "preferred" networks list so cannot remove any old corrupt profile there ?

Went through the option of Add again and entered details which she assures me are correct but again the error about bit strength password was mentioned (not sure of the wording now).

She tells me that info sheets that came from Sky say that encryption is not wep but wpa/psk type .... the box where she entered details manually only gave wep or disable as a choice :?

She didn't want to procede yet with router hard reset although did do a short reset which sky had talked her through over the phone.
A pin was used and it is held in place for a very short time ... they told her not to hold it in too long as more things would need redoing in this case ???

Thanks for the continued help

Anne

>>>Have you tried selecting the connection, then right click and select "Repair" ?


Yup .. no go.... Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed:
Connecting to the wireless network.

As for the reset with a pin ...... I too have had Sky talk me through this procedure over the phone when helping somebody else. In their case the wireless connection became stable again.

My sisters router appears to be stable and router is being picked up with a strong connection ... just won't connect though :?

The first thing to try is probably to see if she can connect when encryption (WEP/WPA) in the router has been disabled. Also ensure that MAC address filtering isn't active and that the router isn't using channels above 11. Some Wireless Network Adapters won't connect on channels 12 or 13.