Laptop no longer connecting to the internet

[TheLoneCrusader]

My mom has an dell laptop that she hadn't touched in about 2-3 years recently she tried to use it but it wouldn't connect to the internet. It's not the simple network is turned off since it's connected to the internet and even says the signal is great. I made sure the network connectivity was on but that doesn't seem to fix anything. I don't think it's a software problem but a hardware problem any suggestions?

(update)
The laptop is running Windows 7
All other devices are connected to the internet
I am positive it's not a modem or router issue

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Please do try these troubleshooting steps that may help.
- First is to uninstall/reinstall the Wifi adapter.
- Go to Device Manager and uninstall the wifi adapter.
- Once uninstalled, reboot the laptop and it should reinstall the driver automatically.
- After the reboot, do try connecting the laptop again and see if the same problem will persist or not.
- If it will still not work I would suggest reinstalling Windows as the last option.

 

[snipersam15]

Hello, TheLoneCrusader can you answer a few of my questions so I can better understand your issue, from there I can should be able to help you.
What OS is currently on the laptop?
Also do other devices connected to the same network currently have internet access?
What browsers are installed on the laptop?
If the OS installed is Windows, is the OS up to date?

For now you can some of these steps. Firstly try accessing the internet from a fresh browser install, try uninstalling google chrome if you have it already and install google chrome. If that works then your browser is possibly failing in some way, you can fix that be reinstalling that browser. If that doesn't work continue to the next steps.
As for the information you've given me, you can try resetting your modem, and router and see if this resolves your issue.
You said that you can connect to your network and you can see the signal strength is good, that being said I'm assuming the wireless receiver in the laptop should be functioning.

Try these steps (assuming your on windows)
Go to control panel, then network and sharing center, then change adapter settings.
Look for the wireless adapter, then right click it, then click disable, after it's disabled re-enable it.
Connect to the network again and check for internet access on a couple browsers

If that doesn't work try what Laptop_Nerd suggested by uninstalling the Wifi adapter, if it doesn't automatically reinstall the driver, lookup your computer online and find the driver from your specifics computers support/driver page.
Then try accessing the internet on a few browsers.

If all that doesn't work let us know.

 

[UnhappyDellD630]

Hi,

Please do try these troubleshooting steps that may help.
- First is to uninstall/reinstall the Wifi adapter.
- Go to Device Manager and uninstall the wifi adapter.
- Once uninstalled, reboot the laptop and it should reinstall the driver automatically.
- After the reboot, do try connecting the laptop again and see if the same problem will persist or not.
- If it will still not work I would suggest reinstalling Windows as the last option.

I have this issue myself (last few months with my older DELL laptop). This works, but I think it is absolute bulls**t that we would have to go through all this trouble, just to connect to the wifi. Your suggestion works.