Computer Geekery: Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 Windows XP Wireless Wi-Fi No Connections Fix
I'm posting this because there might be one, just one person searching on the Internet for the answer to this at some point in the future. Really, most all of you can ignore this post.
I re-installed Windows XP home on to an old Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 laptop computer and everything seemed to go really well save for the wireless (wi-fi) connection. Although the driver seemed to install on its own and there were no issues in the device manager, the darn thing would never see a wireless network, even though there were wireless networks out there. It would always give the message "no wireless networks were found in range" even with the switch on the side of the computer on and the orange light lit by the switch.
I searched everywhere and found some people with similar problems, but no Windows XP solutions posted. I got it to work with a couple of seemingly un-related-to-the-wireless-card downloads from Toshiba. Here's the fix:
Download each of these:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/s18274acpx.exe
(This software is the foundation for the other Toshiba-provided utilities and power management software, and must be installed prior to installing other Toshiba software. Some Toshiba applications may refer to this as TVALD (for Toshiba Value-Added Logic Device).)
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/s18274utl2.exe
(Toshiba Utilities provide the HWSetup application and the FnEsse task switcher application.)
I'm pretty sure I had the card switch off -- no idea if it matters.
Install the first download. Restart when prompted. Install the second download. Restart even though you're not prompted to at the end.
Turn the switch on, and watch the magic as your wireless card now detects networks.
To be honest, I don't even know if the second download is necessary, but I know what I did and I know it works now, so there.
Edited to add:
I couldn't connect to my secured home network -- it looks like, though, that the driver is really old and perhaps can't handle the newer security methods used nowadays. I'm going to find an unsecured (public) wi-fi spot to try it out -- I'm thinking it'll work.
I re-installed Windows XP home on to an old Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 laptop computer and everything seemed to go really well save for the wireless (wi-fi) connection. Although the driver seemed to install on its own and there were no issues in the device manager, the darn thing would never see a wireless network, even though there were wireless networks out there. It would always give the message "no wireless networks were found in range" even with the switch on the side of the computer on and the orange light lit by the switch.
I searched everywhere and found some people with similar problems, but no Windows XP solutions posted. I got it to work with a couple of seemingly un-related-to-the-wireless-card downloads from Toshiba. Here's the fix:
Download each of these:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/s18274acpx.exe
(This software is the foundation for the other Toshiba-provided utilities and power management software, and must be installed prior to installing other Toshiba software. Some Toshiba applications may refer to this as TVALD (for Toshiba Value-Added Logic Device).)
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/s18274utl2.exe
(Toshiba Utilities provide the HWSetup application and the FnEsse task switcher application.)
I'm pretty sure I had the card switch off -- no idea if it matters.
Install the first download. Restart when prompted. Install the second download. Restart even though you're not prompted to at the end.
Turn the switch on, and watch the magic as your wireless card now detects networks.
To be honest, I don't even know if the second download is necessary, but I know what I did and I know it works now, so there.
Edited to add:
I couldn't connect to my secured home network -- it looks like, though, that the driver is really old and perhaps can't handle the newer security methods used nowadays. I'm going to find an unsecured (public) wi-fi spot to try it out -- I'm thinking it'll work.