WiFi (not) on Dell Inspiron

[jimfuk]

Recently I deleted Vista and loaded XP (SP 1A) onto my stepson's Dell Inspiron 1525 (with a lot of help from Burr!).
Now I can't get it to connect to the net (mainly to validate Windows).
The net is a Sky Broadband satellite system and 3 other comps are connected to it with no problems. But XP just refuses. Connecting by LAN Ethernet doesn't work either (from a desktop which is wirelessly connected to the Sky system).
The Dell used to be connected by WiFi when it ran Vista - but I'm not going back there!
In simple terms - how do I do it?
Is SP 1A not high enough to have Wifi on it. Is it missing drivers or Wifi programmes which were in SP 2 or 3?
Any help/guidance will be appreciated.

[mgmcc]

<font color="navy">"Connecting by LAN Ethernet doesn't work either (from a desktop which is wirelessly connected to the Sky system)"</font>

If you're connecting the two computers directly - Network Adapter to Network Adapter - it is essential to use a crossover ethernet cable, is this what you have used?

Have you also enabled "Internet Connection Sharing" on the Wireless Network Connection of the Desktop PC to which you are connecting by ethernet and which has the wireless connection to Sky?

<font color="navy">"Is SP 1A not high enough to have Wifi on it"</font>

That's not the problem - I've run a Wireless Network Adapter in Windows 98SE. However, the drivers you're using would have to support the type of encryption in use. If the Sky network is protected by WPA, the Wireless Adapter's drivers would have to support WPA to be able to connect to the network.

[jimfuk]

I've had a chance to play with the settings now - and got nowhere!
Yes I am using a Crossover cable.
If I select 'show networks' it shows 1394 LAN (connected) and Broadband (disconnected)
If I plug the LAN cable in nothing happens - no internet.
If I select Broadband it brings up a Loggon box but it always returns an error.
The WiFi switch on the R/H side is on - but the light is off.
Under Device Manager it shows 1394 Net adaptor
Then underneath it shows Other Devices - one of which is the Ethernet Controller - all with yellow question marks beside them.
Is the computer missing some additional software from Dell to drive this kit?

[mgmcc]

The "1394" adapter is a Firewire connection and this does normally show as "Connected", even though its port isn't physically connected to anything. Just ignore it because you won't be using Firewire for networking.

You should have an entry in the Network Connections folder for a "Local Area Connection" but, because Device Manager indicates that the "Ethernet Controller" isn't installed properly, this is missing. The first thing you need to do is to install the Network Adapter (Ethernet Controller) with its proper drivers.

[jimfuk]

OK - I'm on the Dell site and downloading all sorts of drivers. I'll put them on a CD and see if I can use Device Manager to install them.
More later.

[jimfuk]

I knew it wouldn't be that easy!
The files are either .exe or .zip and Device Mnr asks for .inf !
What's more the laptop can't see the CD drive. I can put them on a stick but I'm not the USB ports are working yet either.
There was an option to save as a .iso - should i do that (and how do I use it?)

[mgmcc]

If you extract the files from the ZIP archive, do they include an INF file?

Alternatively, running the EXE file might install the drivers for you.

[jimfuk]

The files were all individual .exe or .zip and together they fill a CD (without unzipping the .zip ones).
The trouble is that Windows Explorer can see the CD drive in that it shows it on the list - but it can't read it so it doesn't list the files.
I need to find another way to get the files on the comp.

[jimfuk]

I can get all of the drivers and utilities off of the Dell website by entering the product code - but the infuriating thing is that the site assumes that the computer to be updated is connected to the net. It can't be connected until the drivers are installed! Catch 22 again!

[mgmcc]

I think your only option is to try using a USB stick. Windows should have installed the USB controllers automatically without the need for specific drivers from Dell. It should also have installed drivers for the CD drive, so it isn't clear why that isn't working.