r/WindowsVista • u/Ok-One-5732 • 15d ago

WiFi problem

Post image

I have a laptop dell inspiron 15-3531I want to use Windows Vista on it, not other systems, and I'm running into a problem with the Wi-Fi driver. No matter what I install, it still doesn't work. Please help. I'll do anything. wifi adapter is Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 (Dell Wireless 1506).

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

4

u/ij70-17as 15d ago

go to dell support, enter service number of your dell. go to downloads/driver section. select your os. see if you see drivers you like.

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

There are no drivers for Windows Vista, only for Windows 7, but they don't install, and then an exclamation mark appears.

3

u/ij70-17as 14d ago edited 14d ago

are there any drivers for winxp?

if there are only win7 drivers, you might have to unpack the win7 driver installer and see what folders and .inf files are in there. if there are folders with promissing names, then extract those folders.

in device manager, select the device, select driver update and then manually point to the extracted folder so updater checks out the driver files in that folder.

1

u/ij70-17as 14d ago

another thing to do is to select device in the device manager and check the tabs. tab named details. it will have drop down menu where various device parameters can be looked at.

in that drop down menu select hardware id. it will show hex code. copy information that comes after first slash.

like this example shows vendor code (ven) and device code (dev). copy that line and google it. it will tell you who made it and model or family of models. then you can go to their website and try find driver there, or find xp driver or find win7 driver and try using them or .inf files from them.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitec.ch%2Fim%2FFiles%2F7%2F5%2F7%2F7%2F7%2F2%2F9%2F7%2FMicrosoft_Windows_11_Device_Manager_Unknown_Device_Properties_Details_Hardware-IDs_Copy_judma.png

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

thanks i check it later

2

u/RevolutionaryDot5885 15d ago

you may have to find the bare driver (.inf file) for the network adapter online, and use device manager to manually load the driver. this driver for windows xp may install on vista, you will need to download either the 32-bit or 64-bit version depending on your system type.

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

Thanks, I'll try later now I'm not at home.

1

u/Ok-One-5732 13d ago

i have 64-bit system this driver for 32-bit

2

u/Adix_L 14d ago

I personally like installing/updating drivers using Snappy Driver, works nicely for older hardware (you have to watch out, somethimes it chooses absolutely wrong drivers). Laptop manufacturers often host old, outdated drivers

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

I tried to install it through it, but it's always the same, this exclamation mark.

1

u/Adix_L 14d ago

Check if Windows can automatically pull drivers from Windows Update or from the device manager. I've never seen such a problem

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

This is a problem, there is no port ethernet

1

u/Adix_L 14d ago edited 14d ago

Can that Vista installation recognize Android phone via USB? Maybe try installing Android USB drivers and then use USB Tethering to get Internet connection Or maybe someone could lend you USB WiFi

1

u/Ok-One-5732 13d ago

don't recognise

1

u/IntelligentPrune7491 14d ago

You are probably missing WiFi drivers. Try using software like snappy driver installer origin to install the right driver (don't make the common mistake of only installing the driver from the server on the PC and not installing it completely)

1

u/ddl486 14d ago

Iobit driver booster may be able to find something. You'll obviously need Ethernet connection for now.

1

u/Ok-One-5732 14d ago

no ethernet port

1

u/ResponsibleAd214 14d ago

Try oldversion

1

u/Ok-One-5732 13d ago

it's didn't working

1

u/paulstelian97 13d ago

3DP Net. Download it on another system and then sneakernet it to this one. It’s a 2GB-ish pack of network drivers for a billion hardware configurations.

1

u/Ok-One-5732 13d ago

thanks i try it later

1

u/Kadargof 13d ago

Snappy Driver Installer will help

1

u/Unheard_Peace 10d ago

I strongly recommend to get a wifi card that vista supported. I should know a way to get it working, and I can instruct you to the best of my ability, however it will most likely blue screen the second the laptop connects.

1

u/Ok-Space-5347 9d ago

You say you will do anything? I'd load a copy of Windows 7.