No network adapter drivers after Windows re-install

Question

This is a pretty basic question.

I got a PC (Packard Bell Easynote TK11-BZ-010BE) that had linux on it, so I thought, just delete the partition and its alright. Well, it wasn't.

I went into grub recovery and couldn't do anything, so I re-installed windows again.

Now the problem is that everything works expect my network adapter. When I go to device manager, I get that there aren't any driver's for it installed. But without internet, I can't install the so called driver finders.

How should I solve this?

Answer 1

You state that you don't have internet access on that machine to use a driver finder.

You don't need to install a driver finder.

If you went to the Packardbell.com support site, you would have seen that they used three different wireless cards in the assembly... not in one laptop, mind you.

So, first, you get yourself a USB flash drive, or a computer that can burn a CD and a blank CD. That is to say you get EITHER the USB flash drive OR you set yourself up with the ability to burn a CD.

Then, you download all three of these packages DIRECTLY FROM PACKARD BELL. Yes, that's right. Packard Bell provides driver support for the hardware they sell. And here are direct links for the Windows 7 drivers (as that is what is initially provided by Packard Bell).

Atheros

Broadcom

Realtek

If for whatever reason you cannot download from those links, just start with going to the Packard Bell website, choose your country, hover over the support link, click download center to bring you here, and enter the model (TK11BZ) for your laptop.

Now, once you download all three of those installation packages, you save them all to the USB flash drive, OR you burn all three of the installation packages to a CD. You then take that flash drive or CD and put it in the Easynote. You then install ALL three. Do you need to install all three? Nope. You only need to install the correct one. Will installing the wrong one hurt your computer in any way? Nope. If you install a wireless driver for a wireless card you don't have, your OS will ignore the driver.

For those who would argue this point, they need only think about how a computer could possibly continue to function after installing the drivers needed for a USB wireless Nic, after you have unplugged the wireless Nic. I mean... OMG!! There are wireless drivers installed for a wireless card that isn't present... and the computer still functions fine!

Yes, there are things you can do to attempt to identify exactly what wireless card is in your laptop. You can read the label on the bottom of your laptop, since there should be a notification regarding your country's regulations on allowing wireless interference, and that notification should state the company's name (Realtek, Broadcom, Atheros) in the notifcation. Or, you could take the cover off the panel on the bottom that is covering the wireless card and actually look at it, and either read the paper notification taped to it, or look at the main chip and see if it is says Broadcom or Realtek or what-have-you. Or you could follow the steps suggested in the other answer. Yes, you can take the time to identify exactly which card is there, and then only install the one that applies. However, it isn't necessary. If you install each until the wireless card works, then Windows will ignore the others that don't apply.

The point is, you Download the driver installation packages from Packard Bell for your model laptop, and you bring them to the computer without internet access using a portable storage medium. That solves both issues you mentioned.

Answer 2

You can detect NIC type manually, then download and install its drivers.

In device manager, in NIC properties, on Details tab, select 2nd item from dropbox, and look for characters after VID_ and PID_. This is numeric IDs of vendor and product.

Then google for it (or use http://www.pcidatabase.com/), get to vendor's site, and download corresponding drivers.

If it's Realtek (vendor), and you're asking about wired connection, there are really only one of candidate driver: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false (select any mirror from string "Win7 and WinServer 2008 R2 Auto Installation Program (SID:1497589)").

With Atheros and Broadcom, there are more choices.