Not a Dell related query, but...

I've been asked if I know why Vista fails to network a laptop to a
Netgear router (DG834GT IIRC).

The obvious answer is, of course, they bought a machine with Vista,
but beyond that, any ideas ?

(it sees the network, connects for a second or two, then drops)

Personally, I told them to take the laptop back to the shop as Vista
is not fit for the purpose it was sold, rendering the laptop all but
useless, but i'm not sure they were keen on that option :-}

"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message t...

I've been asked if I know why Vista fails to network a laptop to a
Netgear router (DG834GT IIRC).

The obvious answer is, of course, they bought a machine with Vista,
but beyond that, any ideas ?

(it sees the network, connects for a second or two, then drops)

Personally, I told them to take the laptop back to the shop as Vista
is not fit for the purpose it was sold, rendering the laptop all but
useless, but i'm not sure they were keen on that option :-}


I'd start with either the Vista native firewall or any other third party
firewall/security software that might be on the machine.

Disable it all (temporarily) and go from there.

Colin Wilson o.uk
wrote in t:


I've been asked if I know why Vista fails to network a laptop to a
Netgear router (DG834GT IIRC).

The obvious answer is, of course, they bought a machine with Vista,
but beyond that, any ideas ?

(it sees the network, connects for a second or two, then drops)

Is media player or anything else running in the foreground while this is
happening?

There is, or at least was, a known issue in Vista of the Media Player
causing networking to be kicked down to too low of a priority with
certain network card drivers. Don't know if its been addressed in a
hotfix yet or not.

Is media player or anything else running in the foreground while this is
happening?
There is, or at least was, a known issue in Vista of the Media Player
causing networking to be kicked down to too low of a priority with
certain network card drivers. Don't know if its been addressed in a
hotfix yet or not.

Not afaik, I actually mentioned Microsofts' little fookup in that area
to him myself. He was stunned to learn just how bad Vista was.

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:06:30 -0000, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

Is media player or anything else running in the foreground while this is
happening?
There is, or at least was, a known issue in Vista of the Media Player
causing networking to be kicked down to too low of a priority with
certain network card drivers. Don't know if its been addressed in a
hotfix yet or not.

Not afaik, I actually mentioned Microsofts' little fookup in that area
to him myself. He was stunned to learn just how bad Vista was.

I haven't found Vista to be bad, just a major disappointment that MS
didn't release something better. Almost everything I have runs fine
on it.

I am happy though that Vista is lacking in new innovation. I want
Apple to gain market share and attract developers. That may also help
as Apple goes into China.

I am happy though that Vista is lacking in new innovation. I want
Apple to gain market share and attract developers. That may also help
as Apple goes into China.

Personally i'm hoping for a much bigger push towards linux than has
generally been the case - i'm not a linux nutter, but it's probably
stable enough to be used as a desktop for most users now IMO - it's
just that some apps may need to be replaced.

Recently, i've been VERY impressed with the way linux handled the
bluetooth device i've got, which i've struggled to get working for two
years under windows - in the process of which i've used the original
drivers, the updated drivers, and a copy of the IBM drivers which
needed to be manually hex edited. Nothing worked as it should.

With Ubuntu, I simply did a quick search for anything that looked
semi-useful under Gnome, installed it, and it immediately allowed me
to transfer files. I've managed to recover several years worth of pics
of our dog who died recently that were stuck on my phone :-}

"Colin Wilson" o.uk wrote
in message ...
Is media player or anything else running in the foreground while this is
happening?
There is, or at least was, a known issue in Vista of the Media Player
causing networking to be kicked down to too low of a priority with
certain network card drivers. Don't know if its been addressed in a
hotfix yet or not.

Not afaik, I actually mentioned Microsofts' little fookup in that area
to him myself. He was stunned to learn just how bad Vista was.

i would suggest connecting the laptop to the router via a network to
download/install all the vista updates. once that is done then try again
wirelessly. if that doesn't work then upgrade the firmware in the router.
and if that doesn't work, and you have an intel a/b/g wireless card in the
laptop then look at netgears knowledgebase for a article of things to try
(or just get a router from a different manufacturer).

i would suggest connecting the laptop to the router via a network to
download/install all the vista updates. once that is done then try again
wirelessly.

It does work when connected via cable - i'll tell him to do the
updates and try again as you suggest :-)

if that doesn't work then upgrade the firmware in the router.

Not possible - there's a satellite co. in the UK called Sky, and they
use their own firmware in a router they provide. Guess who he's with
:-} (same as me actually). It's against their T&Cs to reflash the
firmware or use a different router on their system.

and if that doesn't work, and you have an intel a/b/g wireless card in the
laptop then look at netgears knowledgebase for a article of things to try
(or just get a router from a different manufacturer).

Netgear's site is a bit crap in places - as soon as you try to figure
out what the problems may be with a particular bit of kit, you need to
tell it where you're based. If you say the UK, you might get a
completely different set of answers - and from what i've seen, none
are particularly clear on what is at fault.

Lets face it though, Vista is a lame duck with so much broken
"functionality" you wouldn't wish it on anyone :-}

Although I haven't tried networking wirelessly through linux yet, I
believe it works perfectly. XP works just fine, so that leaves one
strong contender for where the actual cause of the problem is :-}

Vista can't possibly be a lame duck yet! It has not been released for 3+ years.
Now Windows ME! There's a lame duck... Ben Myers

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:32:47 -0000, Colin Wilson
o.uk wrote:

i would suggest connecting the laptop to the router via a network to
download/install all the vista updates. once that is done then try again
wirelessly.

It does work when connected via cable - i'll tell him to do the
updates and try again as you suggest :-)

if that doesn't work then upgrade the firmware in the router.

Not possible - there's a satellite co. in the UK called Sky, and they
use their own firmware in a router they provide. Guess who he's with
:-} (same as me actually). It's against their T&Cs to reflash the
firmware or use a different router on their system.

and if that doesn't work, and you have an intel a/b/g wireless card in the
laptop then look at netgears knowledgebase for a article of things to try
(or just get a router from a different manufacturer).

Netgear's site is a bit crap in places - as soon as you try to figure
out what the problems may be with a particular bit of kit, you need to
tell it where you're based. If you say the UK, you might get a
completely different set of answers - and from what i've seen, none
are particularly clear on what is at fault.

Lets face it though, Vista is a lame duck with so much broken
"functionality" you wouldn't wish it on anyone :-}

Although I haven't tried networking wirelessly through linux yet, I
believe it works perfectly. XP works just fine, so that leaves one
strong contender for where the actual cause of the problem is :-}

Or to use a better political metaphor... Vista can't possibly be a lame duck
yet! It was elected by Microsoft only a year ago. They stuffed the ballot box.

.... Ben Myers

On Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:25:44 -0500, Ben Myers
wrote:

Vista can't possibly be a lame duck yet! It has not been released for 3+ years.
Now Windows ME! There's a lame duck... Ben Myers

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:32:47 -0000, Colin Wilson
REMOVEEVERYTHINGBUTnewsgroup@phoenixbbsZEROSPAM. co.uk wrote:

i would suggest connecting the laptop to the router via a network to
download/install all the vista updates. once that is done then try again
wirelessly.

It does work when connected via cable - i'll tell him to do the
updates and try again as you suggest :-)

if that doesn't work then upgrade the firmware in the router.

Not possible - there's a satellite co. in the UK called Sky, and they
use their own firmware in a router they provide. Guess who he's with
:-} (same as me actually). It's against their T&Cs to reflash the
firmware or use a different router on their system.

and if that doesn't work, and you have an intel a/b/g wireless card in the
laptop then look at netgears knowledgebase for a article of things to try
(or just get a router from a different manufacturer).

Netgear's site is a bit crap in places - as soon as you try to figure
out what the problems may be with a particular bit of kit, you need to
tell it where you're based. If you say the UK, you might get a
completely different set of answers - and from what i've seen, none
are particularly clear on what is at fault.

Lets face it though, Vista is a lame duck with so much broken
"functionality" you wouldn't wish it on anyone :-}

Although I haven't tried networking wirelessly through linux yet, I
believe it works perfectly. XP works just fine, so that leaves one
strong contender for where the actual cause of the problem is :-}