Wireless adapter will not install

[Joe]

I have a Dell Dimension 4300, 512 Meg RAM, running Windows
XP (home) SP1. I use a Linksys AP/Wireless Router with a
4-port switch. I have 3 PCs connected (one wired and two
wireless) but have not been able to connect the Dell
Dimension. I connected this system to a home network
through a USB wireless adapter (Linksys WUSB11) and it
worked fine for a month. Then, I got nervous about
security and changed the SSID for the router. At this
point, the wireless adapter would no longer connect. I
deleted the associated software and deleted the drivers
from device manager. When I went to reinstall the
software, the last steps of the installation failed. I
got a message that Windows could not install the device
because it could not find the necessary file. The message
named the file. I could see it on the install CD, but
installation never got past this point.

The same thing happened with a different Linksys wireless
adapter and with a D-Link PCI wireless card. All three
products work fine on another computer in the house.

It seems to me that something in the OS is causing the
install to fail. Dell Tech Support recommended
repair/reinstall of the operating system. I did that but
the same problem persists.

I don't know if this means anything, but the system is
keeping track of each failed installation attempt. It now
lists the D-Link card as wireless adapter 19. Can anybody
help me solve this?

 

[Guest]

I am setting up a toshiba laptop with the same linksys
wireless and am having the same problem. Is working fine
with the hard wire to the network card from the linksys
hub but the 650 linksys card and pcmcia card always cause
the system to crash when installed so that I have to
reboot into safe mode and then roll back to a restore
point. The linksys works fine on two other pcs in the
house but with XP they keep failing. I really don't care
to have to use windows millenium again.

I hope that we can get an answer from someone out there
that has solved the issue.

Comiserably Bill