Cannot enable wi-fi device (Netgear WNA3100) network connection although message is 'enabled'
I am using Microsoft driver for the above device. Drivers loaded ok, device manager seems to think it's fine. Device seems just fine (blue light flashing as it should). Anti-virus/external firewall (Zonealarm Exteme) etc all shut down (to find problem). Primary ethernet connection disabled. Network and sharing Center (Change adapter settings) allows me to enable, says enabling, then enabled, however it never changes status and remains disabled. Netgear driver (latest for win7 64 which I use) installs fine until final part 'detecting adapter' which fails - never gets there and needs to be forcefully terminated. I've removed the Netgear software entirely. I've changed USB ports and done just about as much as I can. From a management point of view I hate windows7. To get to simple information it is far more difficult than previous OS's. As an example, I have no idea how to get my OS version number. I know it is Windows7 64Bit Home edition but thats all I can say. The network adapter works perfectly under XP-sp3 and this is dual-boot machine so hardware is obviously identical (apart from SSD boot for Win7 and HDD for XP). Any help appreciated - or any questions I can answer to help me out! Thanks, Dave.
December 26th, 2010 7:38pm

Was it Win 7 compatiable?Professional In Computing - Please Contact for Help. Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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December 26th, 2010 7:49pm

I do not recommend using MS hardware drivers unless absolutely necessary. Go to the NetGear site and download the latest (W7) drivers. http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17393 -------- Regards, Hank Arnold Microsoft MVP Windows Server - Directory Services http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/personal-pc-assistant/ On 12/26/2010 7:38 PM, musicmac wrote: I am using Microsoft driver for the above device. Drivers loaded ok, device manager seems to think it's fine. Device seems just fine (blue light flashing as it should). Anti-virus/external firewall (Zonealarm Exteme) etc all shut down (to find problem). Primary ethernet connection disabled. Network and sharing Center (Change adapter settings) allows me to enable, says enabling, then enabled, however it never changes status and remains disabled. Netgear driver (latest for win7 64 which I use) installs fine until final part 'detecting adapter' which fails - never gets there and needs to be forcefully terminated. I've removed the Netgear software entirely. I've changed USB ports and done just about as much as I can. From a management point of view I hate windows7. To get to simple information it is far more difficult than previous OS's. As an example, I have no idea how to get my OS version number. I know it is Windows7 64Bit Home edition but thats all I can say. The network adapter works perfectly under XP-sp3 and this is dual-boot machine so hardware is obviously identical (apart from SSD boot for Win7 and HDD for XP). Any help appreciated - or any questions I can answer to help me out! Thanks, Dave. Regards, Hank Arnold (MVP - DS)
December 27th, 2010 5:15am

Thanks for that Hank. I have gone down that route and installed the Netgear V1.1.3.22 software, however as I mentioned when the installation gets to 'detecting adapter' it just hangs and can only be terminated using Task Manager. This version is suposed to be Win7 64bit but wont complete installation. It is for this reason I tried allowing the MS drivers. They do a better, but still non-functioning installation. Regards, Dave.
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December 27th, 2010 10:29am

Have you tried installing the Netgear drivers manually?
December 27th, 2010 8:46pm

Hi bob. Just done that with the netgear supplied drivers. Device is working fine according to device manager, however I still cannot change status to enabled. Go through the 'enabling' and 'enabled' stages, however the status remains disabled, and the troubleshooter states 'there may be a problem with the driver'. I'm just wondering if perhaps there is a service it needs which may not be running or something like that. I have the 'ready' led flashing slowly on the device. Regards, Dave.
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December 29th, 2010 1:24pm

don't use the Netgear utility to manage the wireless. Use Windows to manage your network. On Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:24:15 +0000, musicmac wrote: > > >Hi bob. Just done that with the netgear supplied drivers. Device is working fine according to device manager, however I still cannot change status to enabled. Go through the 'enabling' and 'enabled' stages, however the status remains disabled, and the troubleshooter states 'there may be a problem with the driver'. I'm just wondering if perhaps there is a service it needs which may not be running or something like that. I have the 'ready' led flashing slowly on the device. > >Regards, Dave. Barb Bowman http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
December 30th, 2010 5:18am

Hi Barb. That is exactly what I have done. I am not using the netgear utility and windows management was my selection. Regards, Dave.
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December 30th, 2010 5:54am

Well, there are some service dependencies, but they may or may not have any affect on the device driver itself. Still, you could check and make sure they're running: WLAN Autoconfig service RPC service EAP service
December 30th, 2010 1:33pm

the wna3100 ( as opposed to the wnDa3100 which is a different device ) isn't even listed as compatible with Windows 7 as of 12/27 at http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11127/kw/Windows%207/r_id/100109#win7_adapter I realize that http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17393/kw/wna3100 states there is a driver that is compatible. I did a quick search and seems others have issues with this adapter. Also, even though you are using Windows to manager the wireless, can you check taskmgr to see if the netgear utility is still in memory? Netgear has been known to do this. I'd go into device manager and delete this device and delete the drivers when asked. Reboot. Run the Netgear installer. Before proceeding, find the location where it extracted the temp files for this and COPY the drivers somewhere else. Abort the installation. Reboot. Then plug the adapter in and point the windows installer at the place where you copied the drivers. This sometimes works around the issues with the Netgear installer. On Thu, 30 Dec 2010 10:54:44 +0000, musicmac wrote: > > >Hi Barb. That is exactly what I have done. I am not using the netgear utility and windows management was my selection. > >Regards, Dave. Barb Bowman http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
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December 30th, 2010 1:52pm

Thanx 4 that Barb. Will do. Not leaving this subject at all, but doing system rebuild now with new mobo, cpu, memory, SSDs and Revodrive so may b busy 4 a few days. Might b good if u had an idea where the drivers might be placed....as it is an .exe intaller it could b anywhere and may be so temporary that I might miss them. Kindest (and happy new year 2 all!), Dave.
January 5th, 2011 5:40pm

Well, there are some service dependencies, but they may or may not have any affect on the device driver itself. Still, you could check and make sure they're running: WLAN Autoconfig service RPC service EAP service Thanks Bob. I checked and these are running aok.
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January 5th, 2011 5:50pm

somewhere in the temp hierarchy as I recall... On Wed, 5 Jan 2011 22:40:45 +0000, musicmac wrote: > > >Thanx 4 that Barb. Will do. Not leaving this subject at all, but doing system rebuild now with new mobo, cpu, memory, SSDs and Revodrive so may b busy 4 a few days. Might b good if u had an idea where the drivers might be placed....as it is an .exe intaller it could b anywhere and may be so temporary that I might miss them. > >Kindest (and happy new year 2 all!), Dave. Barb Bowman http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
January 6th, 2011 4:58am

Ok I'll b trying again as of wednesday this week. Revodrive experiment failed (drive/ (new)mobo not happy together). Got no windows 7 64 till wednesday at least. Will get back to it. Thought I should post so topic doesn't die. If it is of any interest ASUS M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 with Revodrive on PCI-E x4 will install win7 64 but forget about doing anything with it. BSOD or hang (all latest drivers and bios). Shame, was nice idea - ran out of SATA II space (on old mobo) so thought it might b good to have PCI-e x4 speeds for an SSD. Never mind lol. Only about 30 man hours trying to sort. Same day as collection (revodrive), I got 120Gb Vertex II arriving for Win7 64 install as I KNOW it works (and I love the speed!). Luckily on the new mobo I got another 2 Sata II ports available. It does support Sata 6 but not worth the wait for compatibles. Once that is done I can get back to sorting this infernal wireless adapter. Kindest. Dave.
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January 9th, 2011 10:02pm

Its a bit old thread, but I want to update it with my (Netgear support actually) solution to this problem. Here is my question to Netgear support (10/29/2011 12:32:00 PM): 1. Windows 7 sp1 64-bit There is a problem with the driver for this, I have tried so many different things now, but no result. When I install the software/driver for WNA3100, when it ask me to connect the WNA3100, I do but it doesent find it... In Windows device manager it looks fine, but in network connections its only de-activated, and I cant activate it. I have tried to instal the driver from CD, from internet with windows update, and I downloaded driver from Netgear support (WNA3100_v1.1.3.22_Setup.exe) but always same result, FAILED. I also googled this problem, and I see many others having the same issue with Win7 64-bit. Is there a new driver comming soon, or should I return this? Here is what Netgear answered (10/29/2011 3:11:00 PM): We just tried the installation on win 7 64 here ourselfs, so please try the following: 1. Uninstall the software on the adapter by pressing Start- Programs- Netgear- choose uninstall. 2. Uninstall the drivers of the adapter (when it's connected to the PC) by pressing Start- Control Panel- Device manager- Network cards- find the adapter and choose uninstall. 3. Disconnect the adapter from the PC. 4. Open the link below: http://support.netgear.com/app/products/model/a_id/13071 Mark "show all version" and download "WNA3100 Initial Release Software Version 1.1.2.16" 5. If you get an error message in the installation go to Start- Control Panel- Device Manager- Network cards- Double click on the adapter- Driver- Upgrade driver- Search automatically for updated drivers. In step 5 you need an internet connection so please use a wire to get internet in this step. When this is done you should be able to finish the installation. If this doesn't work please let us know and we will help you further!
October 29th, 2011 11:01pm

Would b great 2 hear if this worked 4 u? For me is not a dead subject. I still have adaptor but is just packed away as no use. Thaks for that Jallamamba. Regards, Dave.
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October 30th, 2011 11:01pm

Guys, I had the same problems, which I solved by enabling the Wireless Lan feature on Windows Server 2008. Regards, Darryl
November 5th, 2011 3:48pm

Thank you Darryl Pillay. Smartest guy in the room.
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March 26th, 2012 7:08am

That is about as unhelpful as u can get. Who was been taking about 'Windows Server 2008'? DMCGHEE I suggest you read the issue and thread before you think this thread is 'fixed'.
March 27th, 2012 10:35pm

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