Thinkpad Laptop Help Getting Wireless

[carnageX]

Are you up to date on all Windows Updates yet? You apparently need to be on SP3 in order to connect to the WPA2 network (according to this: Wireless Networking — Using WPA2 with Windows XP Service Pack 2*)

You may need to hardwire into your router so you can download updates.

 

[schwarzbach]

How can I do that if I don't even have access to internet? My wired ethernet connection does not work either because the dell or HP (I think that was the one) driver did not work or I installed it wrong.

Edited* This brings up another question, why did my install disc not install these drivers in the first place? Were they just not on the disc? It is win XP home with no service pack.

 

[carnageX]

Download Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers from Official Microsoft Download Center

Download that on your working computer. It's XP SP3 - should allow you to connect after you transfer / install it.

 

[schwarzbach]

OK, thanks. I'll let you know how it goes in a few mins.

Edit* I had to find SP1 first in order to apply three so i am dling that now.

 

[carnageX]

It'll take longer than a few minutes to install .

 

[schwarzbach]

I try to install the win sp1 and it says that it needs to download it. is this not the right one? This is the only sp1 that I can find and it seems to not be the actual file but a download link or something like that.
Windows service pack 1a express install x86 USA?

 

[carnageX]

Use this: Download Windows XP Service Pack 2 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers from Official Microsoft Download Center

SP2 has both SP1 and SP2 in it, so once you install that, you should be able to upgrade to SP3.

As for your question earlier about your install disc... if it's an XP OEM disc, then it will only have basic drivers on it, requiring your to install your own drivers. If it's a disc that came with your laptop and is Lenovo branded (and installs all the extra Lenovo software and such along with the install), then it should have installed your drivers for you.

If you want, you can create a custom XP disc and slipstream the service packs (both SP2 and SP3), as well as any drivers you need, using nLite.

That being said... you should really get off of XP since it is now End of Life and is not receiving anymore security updates from Microsoft.

 

[schwarzbach]

Thanks for the link to SP2. I would like to learn how to do that custom disc, so I'll try to find a tutorial. As far as getting off XP, I already have, for the most part, but this laptop runs bad on Win 7 and I don't really want to switch to Linux. I'll look into it though since this will be connected to the internet. As far as the disc, it was OEM but for a Dell desktop which would explain the lack of Thinkpad drivers, I don't know why I did not figure that out, it seems so obvious in hindsight, but that's always seen with great visual acuity I guess.

Anyway, the service packs are all installed and everything is working great again. Thanks for the help.

 

[carnageX]

Thanks for the link to SP2. I would like to learn how to do that custom disc, so I'll try to find a tutorial. As far as getting off XP, I already have, for the most part, but this laptop runs bad on Win 7 and I don't really want to switch to Linux. I'll look into it though since this will be connected to the internet. As far as the disc, it was OEM but for a Dell desktop which would explain the lack of Thinkpad drivers, I don't know why I did not figure that out, it seems so obvious in hindsight, but that's always seen with great visual acuity I guess.

Anyway, the service packs are all installed and everything is working great again. Thanks for the help.

Here's a link to nLite:
nLite - Deployment Tool for the bootable Unattended Windows installation

Basically, you put your XP disc in, open the program, and it makes a copy of the disc. Then you choose your options (i.e. adding drivers, slipstreaming service packs, etc.), and then choose to rebuild the ISO. Then you can burn it from the application onto a new disc, as well. I've done it several times, and it's pretty easy. It's just a bit of waiting for the initial part, because it has to copy all the data off of the CD and save it to your HDD temporarily.

Glad to help out!

And Linux isn't that bad. You could check out Ubuntu or Linux Mint (both are fairly newbie-friendly). You could also setup a dualboot, and try Linux out without having to worry about totally abandoning Windows, if you wanted.