69chris Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 hey guys, been donated a Dell inspiron lappy to use as a stand in till i sort something else out, but it wont connect to the internet and comes up with................... 'windows did not detect a properly installed network adaptor, if you have a network adaptor, you will need to re-install the driver' what does that mean ? what is a network adaptor ?? what is a driver why does the world hate me ? its running windows 7 btw incase that makes any odds please help the simpleton ...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyKong Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 (edited) A network adapter is how a computer connects to a network. It can be wireless (WiFi) or wired (ethernet). A driver is a bit of software that sits between the physical hardware and your operating system (in this case Windows) that tells your computer how to talk to your network adapter. What model inspiron do you have and are you trying to connect via a physical wired connection or over wifi? You can use this guide to find your laptop model http://www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukbsdt1/SLN298441 EDIT: Sorry didn't see you already said it's running Windows. Edited January 27, 2017 by MonkeyKong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69chris Posted January 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 (edited) cheers for reply mate on start up it comes up with ...windows 7 ultimate...... i tried an ethernet cable - same message as above, i then bought a plug in 'thingy' which goes into a usb connector, ran the disc as per instructions and still same message what model ?....its old........inspiron N5030........a sticker on bottom gave the game away !! its testing me now Edited January 27, 2017 by 69chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 Have a look on youtube it says it has a wireless card fitted. Maybe its faulty .it shows you on there how to replace it.goog luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyKong Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 cheers for reply mate on start up it comes up with ...windows 7 ultimate...... i tried an ethernet cable - same message as above, i then bought a plug in 'thingy' which goes into a usb connector, ran the disc as per instructions and still same message what model ?....its old........inspiron N5030........a sticker on bottom gave the game away !! its testing me now First and easiest thing to try is to update the drivers to the latest versions. Download and install the ones for 'chipset' and 'network': http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-15-n5030/drivers Then reboot. It should automatically hook out the updated driver once it's installed but if not you may need to go into Device Manager and point it to the installed driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedsanity Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 First and easiest thing to try is to update the drivers to the latest versions. Download and install the ones for 'chipset' and 'network': http://www.dell.com/support/home/uk/en/ukbsdt1/product-support/product/inspiron-15-n5030/drivers Then reboot. It should automatically hook out the updated driver once it's installed but if not you may need to go into Device Manager and point it to the installed driver. I'm no Computer genius but if he can't connect it to the Internet isn't he going to have issues downloading the latest drivers onto it 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrowningB525 Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 There are a couple of ways to get around it. 1. Buy a £3 wifi dongle. Then use that to connect to the net and install the proper drivers either through windows or 3rd party software. 2. Reinstall windows with a sell disc that should have the drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonkeyKong Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 I'm no Computer genius but if he can't connect it to the Internet isn't he going to have issues downloading the latest drivers onto it Since he's posting on PW I assume he has access to the internet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 Now you know why it was donated to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
69chris Posted January 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 Since he's posting on PW I assume he has access to the internet? borrowing a mates lappy at home to try to sort this........his has no trouble connecting to b/band box.......typical Now you know why it was donated to you. indeed...............it may have to go to severnside with me tomorrow for a bit of punishment if it wont play ball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 As they said above. Reinstall the drivers or try to roll them back. It should work fine after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston72 Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 if your on virgin or sky for internet, you should have a yellow lead that came with the router,plug one end in the router the ter in the lap top fire the machine up and it should detect updates, if not your connected to the web so you can update manually Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCat Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 It won't detect anything if the driver is corrupted or incorrect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord O War Posted January 27, 2017 Report Share Posted January 27, 2017 Have you had a look in device manager? It will give you an idea of what may be fubar. CLICK on START at the bottom of the screen then CLICK on CONTROL PANEL then CLICK on SYSTEM and SECURITY in this window you will see a tab called SYSTEM and in that group there will be DEVICE MANAGER, click on that and you will see a list of the various devices installed on your laptop. If you look down the list there will be one for network adapters, if you click on it then the group will open and list all network adapters installed. If you see anything in the device manager with an exclamation mark then there is a problem with it, right click on it for some , usually, useless info on what is wrong with it. Has it had a fresh install on it? If the usb ports are working you could try downloading on your mates laptop and transfer across on a usb stick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno22rf Posted January 28, 2017 Report Share Posted January 28, 2017 (edited) Go into device manager and identify your network adaptor - then use your mates laptop to download the drivers onto a USB stick. Whoops - just reads the above post. Edited January 28, 2017 by bruno22rf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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