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What does “No wireless network card driver present” mean?

You will see this message when your computer is trying to access the Internet wirelessly, but it is not detecting the wireless network card that it needs in order to get on the Web. When other device drivers are missing, it is simply a matter of hopping on the Internet, finding the manufacturer’s website and downloading the latest driver for that device. I’m sure you can see where the problem with the method lies - at this point you probably have no Internet access, which makes it difficult to get the driver you need.

Uninstall/Reinstall Device Driver

The easiest way to try to get your network card driver working again is to try to uninstall and then reinstall it from the device manager.  To get to the device manager in Windows XP, first click on Start and then on Control Panel. Find the System icon, click on that and then on the Hardware tab. At the top of the Hardware tab, you will see the button for the Device Manager.

In Device Manager, see if your wireless network card is listed. If it is, click on it and then choose to Uninstall the card. Follow the prompts until the card is uninstalled and then close the window. Reboot the computer - the network card driver should reinstall automatically.

Download the Driver

If your computer is not showing the network card in the Device Manager, then you need to get onto the Internet via a wired network in order to download the correct driver.  Use a cable to connect to a wired router in order to access the Internet. Once you can access the Web, go to the network card manufacturer’s (or the computer manufacturer’s) website and look for the newest driver for your network card. Once you find it, you can choose to download it and then install it on your computer. Once it is installed, then you should be able to work wirelessly once again.

If you don’t want to do the legwork yourself, there are many sites and software available on the Internet that will help you manage your device drivers automatically. One we recommend is Driver Genius.

One reason that drivers often get knocked out is a virus or Trojan. Once you have everything up and running, make sure that your antivirus program is up to date and run it often.

PC World recently reinstalled Windows XP on my Toshiba Satellite and they had to install a driver to make the sound work. The sound has been working for the last few days but now it isn’t. I went onto the Toshiba website and tried to download the sound driver but it just says: driver installation failed could not find media device for this driver. I’ve even tried to request hotfix downloads but it only has options for Windows 2000 and so says: setup has detected that the Service Pack version of this system is newer than the update you are applying. Help me to get my sound back please!

High Def Devices

From what you’re telling me, it looks like you need to install the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture Bus Driver for High Definition Audio Devices package. This link is direct to Microsoft and works with Windows XP and the Service Packs that have probably been installed on your machine. This is a common error message when using high definition audio components.

Before you download this package, make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest Windows Service Pack onto your machine. It sounds like you have because of the error message, but it can’t hurt to be sure. After you have downloaded the UAA and the Service Pack, you may still have problems. If you do, go to the Device Manager and look in System Devices. If you see a device with an ! next to it that is listed as a PCI device you need to update that driver as well. You can either right click on it to update the driver or delete it and reboot.

Device Manager

If downloading that package still hasn’t solved your problem, you can try to find the problem in Device Manager. Go to Device Manager and see if there are errors or conflicts listed. Is there an option for “Sound, Video and Game Cards”? If you can see it there, highlight it and press Delete. This will take it off your system. Shut down the computer and reboot - the computer should detect the sound card and install it. If it doesn’t, you will need to go to the manufacturer’s website and find the correct driver to download. You may need to find the sound card manufacturer, which may not be the same as the computer manufacturer. You can find the manufacturer for the sound card here in Device Manager.

I think that by following the links provided, you will find the downloads you need to get your sound back. If you still have problems, please let us know.