I have a problem with my wireless adapter that's difficult to pin down. I have trouble accessing several wireless networks -- thankfully not my home one, but virtually everything else (at coffee shops, on long bus trips, etc). My computer recognizes the networks and lists them, but when I try to connect I consistently get the 'Limited or No Connectivity' treatment. Basically, any WiFi area is a no-go, and it is getting annoying.
My previous solution for this kind of thing was to 'repair' the wireless connection by right-clicking the tray icon and selecting Repair. Most times, the spacky wireless connection straightened itself out and everything seemed fine. However, I can no longer do this. What happens now is that the normal Repair Wireless Network Connection window is displayed, then half a second later switches to another window saying that the first step, disabling the wireless network adapter, could not be carried out.
Not only that but attempting to disable the adapter manually through the same right-click menu gives the following error:
I have discovered there is a way to disable the wireless, and that is through the Device Manager, but even this is forced, and when I re-enable the network connection it is no better than before. My guess is that there was something in the Repair macro that always fixed my problem, such as clearing the DNS cache or something.
So to summarize my main problem...
Question: Why can't I disable my wireless connection, and why can't I repair it either?
Edit: Possibly important. This is an old Toshiba Satellite laptop that I formatted and reinstalled with the below OS some 18 months ago, and I believe I used the most up-to-date driver for the wireless adapter... it has been working fine until now.
System information
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional N, Version 2002, Service Pack 3
Wireless adapter: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG LAN Mini PCI adaptor
- Driver Provider: Intel
- Driver Date: 26/06/2006
- Driver Version: 9.0.4.17
- Digital Signer: Not digitally signed