# Ralink Wireless LAN Card not exist?



## Heartwould2

Hallo,

After three years of happy use with Windows Vista, things are starting to break down. Most recently, the computer is unable to access an external antenna. When I hover over the icon which usually starts it, I am told "Ralink Wireless LAN Card not exist."

As someone who uses the laptop to get other work done, I'm not all that knowledgeable about the electronics. However, if someone can help me out in fairly straightforward language (and forgive any really stupid questions), I'm hoping I can make something good happen.

Regards
Linnea


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## this-IT-guy

Hello and welcome, 

Click on start and on the search bar, type in device manager, once the window appears, look under network adapters, do you see any exclamation points? or Red X?


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## Heartwould2

Hello,

Thanks for the welcome.:smile:

No, there are no exclamation points or red Xs in Network Adapters. There are two adapters, Atheros and Realtek.


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## Heartwould2

And - if I sit on this window, will I see any posts you might make? Or do I have to refresh the window for any posts to be visible?


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## this-IT-guy

You will need to refresh the page.

Can you provide me the complete name for the adapters, thanks.

The PC in question is a Computer, correct? Not a Laptop?


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## Heartwould2

One is an Atheros AR5007 802.11b/g Wifi Adapter.

The other is a Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC.

Actually, this is a Compaq Presario C700 laptop.


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## Heartwould2

And it may look like I`m losing interest and going off-line, but the feeble connection I have without the external antenna keeps on falling. I am actually keenly interested in having this issue resolved.


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## Old Rich

Have you installed the newest drivers from HP?


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## Heartwould2

I installed RadarSync on Monday, hoping it would help me find a driver if one was needed. I installed a bunch of things, but none of them affected this problem. So, I`m supposing none of them were from HP directly.


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## Old Rich

Those programs are generally junk . . You should always get laptop drivrs from the manufacturer . . you can get the drivers here:

HP Support & Drivers | United States


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## Heartwould2

I`ve arrived at the HP page. I`ll allow it to automatically find HP updates and solutions.


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## Heartwould2

The only update HP identified was for the ALPS Touchpad Pointing Device Driver. I'm not sure that this is the problem I'd like to address right now.

I have to say that the connection fell so many times that I've come outside, where it's about 30% stronger. It's a little chilly, though, so I'm not sure how long I'll last.


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## Heartwould2

It's midnight, it's dark, it's cold and I'm done for today. Thanks for the pointers, Old Rich and This-IT-Guy; perhaps someone can help me solve it tomorrow.

Cheers


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## Old Rich

Do not use the scanner . . go directly to the page for your pc


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## Heartwould2

anyone there?


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## Heartwould2

Hi,

All right, I have gone directly to the HP Support & Drivers page for my laptop, chosen my Operating System (step one) and am now at Step Two: Select a download. 

Which one should I choose? I'm not sure what is going on with my laptop, so I don't really know which one to update.

Thanks


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## Old Rich

Start with the Chipset driver, then the wireless Network adaptor.

by the way, a quick reply is the same as a "Post Reply" just have fewer bells and whistles with the quick reply


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## Heartwould2

Thanks.

Am downloading.


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## Heartwould2

Right; I've downloaded:

Intel Chipset Installation Utility for ICH8 for Microsoft Windows Vista
Atheros Wireless LAN Driver
Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC Driver


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## Old Rich

Once you download the drivers you installed them right? Is wireless working now?


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## Heartwould2

Upon attempting to install them,

1 - With respect to the Chipset, I am told that "this computer does not meet the minimum requirements to install this program" (or words to that effect)

2 - With respect to the Realtek driver, "RegDBGetKeyValueEx" failed partway through the setup, although the installation did apparently conclude.

3 - The Atheros seems to have installed without incident.


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## Old Rich

T hat is not a good message if it is the right driver.

Is wireless working now?


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## Heartwould2

The ability of the computer to recognize a wireless signal is essentially operating (or I would not be able to engage in this conversation. However, attempting to access the external antenna still provokes the message "Ralink Wireless LAN Card not exist."


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## Heartwould2

Just to elaborate: that means that my connection is about 25% of what it could be. The antenna was accessible until a few weeks ago.


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## Old Rich

When you say



> attempting to access the external antenna still provokes the message "Ralink Wireless LAN Card not exist."


What exactly are you doing?


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## Heartwould2

Hovering my cursor over the icon which used to open the antenna. The icon, from Ralink Wireless Utility, is in the lower right hand tool bar. I have reinstalled the program from them, to no avail.


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## Old Rich

I am assuming when you say open the antenna you mean open the Ralink network manager program . . try nt using that and use windows to manage the connection.

Microsoft Corporation


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## Heartwould2

I'm in the Wireless Network Connection Properties tab (step 3 on the link you pasted), and the option "*Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings"* isn't available. I could configure (step 4), but only the Atheros adapter is available as an Available Network.

I'm sorry, I'm swimming a bit beyond my depths, I think.


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## Old Rich

Right click on My COmputer, select Manage > Services and Appications > Services

Look for Wireless Zero Configuration and set it to automatic and start it, then you should have the tab

See this for more 

Turning on Wireless Zero Configuration


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## Heartwould2

This is going to sound totally stupid, and I apologize: where would I find "My Computer"?

Just to be clear, I'm operating a Compaq C700 laptop, with Windows Vista 32 bit.


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## Old Rich

With Vista ( pardon the language ) it is just "Computer" . . click on Start button and it should be there. Also, with Vista ( pardon the language ) it is called WLAN AutoConfig 

For another way to skin the cat:

1.Click on Start and Control Panel
2.Select Administrative Tools and then Services
3.In the Services box scroll down the list of Services (Local) until you find the one labelled Wired AutoConfig and double click it.
4.In the Wired AutoConfig Properties (Local Computer) box change the Startup type to Automatic
5.Click on Start and once the service has started click on OK
6.Now find the service labelled WLAN AutoConfig and double click it.
7.In the WLAN AutoConfig Properties (Local Computer) box change the Startup type to Automatic
8.Click on Start and once the service has started click on OK
9.Go to File and Exit to close the Services window


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## Heartwould2

Done.

The only thing which didn't go exactly as you wrote was that the WLAN AutoConfig Properties Startup type was already on Automatic, so I didn't change it.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed with respect to the Ralink; there is still a big black X over the icon, the same "card not exist" message appears and the right-clicked Config Utility cannot be launched.


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## Heartwould2

And, err, if I may ask, why would you ask my pardon for using the word Vista?


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