Fresh Windows Install, No Internet

[Makthe2nd]

I recently did a fresh install of Windows 7 on my Lenovo P580 Thinkpad. I've tried every driver on The Lenovo for wireless on this laptop, but nothing works. Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[esco_sid]

try slim drivers http/download.cnet.com/SlimDrivers-Free/3000-18513_4-75279940.html
just make sure when you install to uncheck the " offer of other software" so you dont install things you dont want

 

[Makthe2nd]

try slim drivers http/download.cnet.com/SlimDrivers-Free/3000-18513_4-75279940.html
just make sure when you install to uncheck the " offer of other software" so you dont install things you dont want

Thank you, but how can it find the driver if the computer has no internet access?

 

[Rookie_MIB]

That looks like an interesting solution, the problem is that what if he can't connect to the internet at all?

1) he can't download it to that computer (I know he can dl to a thumb drive on a different computer)
2) but if he does that - the program can't connect to the internet anyhow to manage the driver download.

What you need to do:

on the Lenovo:
go to 'control panel' 'device manager', find the unknown ethernet device, right click it, then 'properties'.

This will pull up the dialog for the specific device. Click the 'details' tab, then in the drop down selection box, pull up 'hardware ids'. Write down that long string, then on a different computer with internet access (hopefully you have that), do a google search for that string. That should pull up some results that tell you what specific piece of hardware you have (ie: intel pro wireless 10/100/100, or centrino wireless n, atheros blah blah blah).

From there, go to the manufacturers website and you should be able to find drivers for the particular hardware. From there, download them to a thumb drive, then install it and see if that doesn't work.

If it does, then you can try the slim drivers program listed above to manage the rest of your drivers.

 

[dish_moose]

Most laptops have a partition on the HDD that has all of your drivers. ...If you did not format the whole drive.
-Bruce

 

[Makthe2nd]

Most laptops have a partition on the HDD that has all of your drivers. ...If you did not format the whole drive.
-Bruce

Unfortunately, I reformatted the entire drive. I thought it would be better to have a completely clean start

 

[Makthe2nd]

That looks like an interesting solution, the problem is that what if he can't connect to the internet at all?

1) he can't download it to that computer (I know he can dl to a thumb drive on a different computer)
2) but if he does that - the program can't connect to the internet anyhow to manage the driver download.

What you need to do:

on the Lenovo:
go to 'control panel' 'device manager', find the unknown ethernet device, right click it, then 'properties'.

This will pull up the dialog for the specific device. Click the 'details' tab, then in the drop down selection box, pull up 'hardware ids'. Write down that long string, then on a different computer with internet access (hopefully you have that), do a google search for that string. That should pull up some results that tell you what specific piece of hardware you have (ie: intel pro wireless 10/100/100, or centrino wireless n, atheros blah blah blah).

From there, go to the manufacturers website and you should be able to find drivers for the particular hardware. From there, download them to a thumb drive, then install it and see if that doesn't work.

If it does, then you can try the slim drivers program listed above to manage the rest of your drivers.

I found an old wifi dongle that is working on the laptop, so I don' have to run to my desktop. I found the wireless card. https/downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&FamilyId=1783&ProductID=3507&ProdId=3507

I'm using the Intel Driver Update Utility to download it. Will update.

 

[Makthe2nd]

I was able to use slim driver to find the appropriate patch after using a usb wifi dongle to get internet to the laptop. Thanks everyone for their help.