[Sammer_Wulf]

I recently bought a used Dell Mini 1010. First I used it with win7, everything worked nicely, but it was a little slow. So I switched to Ubuntu, and there were some problems with the GMA500, so finally I am back at XP 32bit.
Everything works except for my wireless card. I tried c.a. 10 different drivers, and every driver gives me back an error message (I tried almost all xp drivers, starting from the Dell page, to other versions, and other pages as well.) The most common error message is:

• Installation error.
• The installer did not found compatible hardware
• The software tried to install, is not usable on this system.
• The software wont be installed.
  
• The installer shuts down now.

The device identifier is : pci\ven_14e4&dev_4315

What could I do?

Sorry, for my english, I have some mistakes...

[largeelvis]

Not sure if this will give you a working answer, but try a program called drivermax by innovative software. An alternate is called slim drivers. Drivermax (unclick the bloatware on install) allows you to upload 2 drivers a day in freeware mode, and in my experience their driver identification is pretty spot on.

DriverMax - free driver download program for Windows XP & Vista

[Sammer_Wulf]

I installed DriverMax, and downloaded the driver which it said is good for the wlan card. Installation failed, and i've got the same errors as before...

[largeelvis]

Sorry dude. If you still had WIN7 on your 1010 I could copy my wlan card driver for you.

Have you tried booting into safemode, getting to a cmd prompt and running sfc /scannow? That just checks to make sure system files are ok. Not sure exactly how to check for hardware conflicts other than device manger, but you might want to try to peer through event viewer and see if it is throwing up any errors.

I think as a last ditch effort you might want to return to WIN7 starter if that is what was originally on the 1010. Video still isnt great, but with a high speed USB readyboost stick opening and closing programs is a lot better. Able to use an older version of photoshop without much wait as well.

[largeelvis]

Just an FYI, tried the pro version of DriverMax. 16 of 16 drivers downloaded fine for my desktop, 11 of 12 worked for Dell Mini 1010. Only one that didn't work was the wlan driver. Rolled it back and it works fine.

[cct1]

The first question would be "which wireless card do you have in the laptop"...until you know that, it will be difficult to find a driver. The 1010 came with at least two, the dell 1397 and the 1510. If worse comes to worse, you can buy wireless cards on Ebay for next to nothing. I put a Dell 1520 in mine because I wanted N. It was $14 shipped. Hardly worth messing with for too long when a new one is that price.

[largeelvis]

Mine has the 1397. Is it worth getting the 1510 or are the ranges on wireless-N usb dongles better?

[Sammer_Wulf]

It's the 1397 I have.
I still can't get any driver to work with it, they still throw the errors i already wrote about...
I tested with a Ubuntu live CD, and the card is working.

[cct1]

Originally Posted by largeelvis

Mine has the 1397. Is it worth getting the 1510 or are the ranges on wireless-N usb dongles better?

I got the 1520 on ebay for $14 and I love it.

How bout this driver...

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...iverId=R237451

[largeelvis]

I think upgrading the card to a 1510 or 1520 might be a little unneccessary. My wireless b/g connection is already pretty good, but I tried two extra wirless-N usb adapters and they both worked well without even having to load drivers.

I might get one of these long range dongle+antennae's. It would be overboard for a wifi cafe or an office
, but for free city-wide wifi here in Mountain View or when I am trying to write about an event ringside, it would be perfect.

Amazon.com: 1000mW 1W 802.11g/n High Gain USB Wireless G / N Long-Rang WiFi Network Adapter - Dongle With Original Alfa 5dBi and 9dBi Rubber Antenna and USB Dongle clip, Suction cup and Extension cable for easy use: Electronics