WiFi driver - help

[crinkles]

I have a Lenovo E530 laptop that has wifi. The laptop had Windows 7 64 bit. After the laptop crashed, I could only reinstall Vista 64 bit (only reinstallation disk I had). I hadn't bothered with recovery disks etc as the Lenovo was full of Bloatware. They also didn't provide a windows 7 reinstall DVD.

So anyway now I have the drama of reinstalling drivers. Lenovo only has W7 drivers for the wifi. How can I check what wifi card I have and where to get a driver for Vista? is it possible that there simply is none? I think the Lenovo driver doesn't work (fails each time) because it doesn't see the laptop as a lenovo any more.

 

[TxHeat]

Unless you've formatted your hard drive, your laptop has a hidden "restore to factory" partition. Check your owners manual or the Lenovo site for instructions on how to restore.

If restoring is no longer possible check the Lenovo website for your exact model and you'll find all your drivers available for download.

 

[Tegger]

YouTube video: How to restore a Lenovo E530 to factory settings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7G93cWDVqo

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
How can I check what wifi card I have and where to get a driver for Vista?

From the Start orb:
- click the Start orb
- type in the white box: cmd , then hit the Enter key on the keyboard
- when the DOS-looking window pops up, type: ipconfig /all

Scroll through the results until you find the wireless adapter. The Description ought to give you what you need. After that, Google would be your friend.

 

[OVERKILL]

Assuming you had Windows 7 Home Premium x64, here's the link to the official Microsoft ISO image:

http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24209.iso

 

[dparm]

W7 drivers should work in Vista. Same driver model.

Otherwise, go into the Device Manager, find the unknown network card (which will be the wireless one), and go to details. Look for a property in the drop-down called "Hardware ID".

You should see something like this:

USB\VID_0846&PID_9012&REV_0101

If you Google that info, you can easily determine the make and model. (in my case, Netgear WNDA4100)

 

[Rand]

need more info how did it crash?

if the hdd didnt go bad

use the restore partition.

 

[crinkles]

bit rooted at the moment so will follow up over the weekend.

how the laptop failed - tried to boot one day, error came up that boot sector was corrupt. Couldn't solve the problem so booted from Vista DVD and reinstalled, all partitions were erased and now on a single partition.

In all honesty i don't mind Vista but will start minding pretty quick If these drivers aren't fixed. Will try on weekend. If not successful then i might try that disk image, thanks!

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Assuming you had Windows 7 Home Premium x64, here's the link to the official Microsoft ISO image:

http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-24209.iso



I think that's it - my label is on the inside of the battery so can't check while posting!

 

[crinkles]

THanks Everyone. Got it sorted today. Downloaded the W7 disk image on my mac at home, booted from it on the lenovo laptop, and reinstalled the Lenovo drivers. This time, the drivers worked.

If this thing crashes again I will be driving over it with the ute.