I have 100s of Win 7 and Win XP computers and I need a way to automatically setup the WiFi. Some will be done for Students and others For Staff etc. I have done mega hours of research on this and using a Win 7 PC to create the export for a USB which is supposed to work on ALL versions from XP up. But, of course, it does not. It works for Win 7 and Vista but not for XP. Here is what I have done.... 1. Tried to use the XP "Wireless Network Setup Wizard" for my XP PCs. But it is defective and won't let you create a setup WITHOUT any encryption which, of course it not acceptable as our WiFi does not use it. We use an Aruba Access Point system that forces authentication VIA AD/Login on first attempt to browse the web. No Encryption AT ALL as far as WiFi client setup is concerned. I also made a profile exactly the way I want it except I put in Bogus WEP settings so it would create the SMRTNTKY folder with the WSETTING.WFC file in it and then edited the .WFC file to remove it but then it would not work which is NOT ACCEPTABLE. 2. Went to a Win 7 PC as doing it from there is supposed to work on Vista and XP also and had no problem using the "Copy this network profile to a USB flash drive" option and it works perfectly for Win 7 and Vista but errors out on XP with the following message.... The wizard could not find the information it needs to setup a network, or the information was not usable. Try running the wizard again from your original computer. After much examination of the files generated between the XP method of exporting a WiFi profile to a USB stick and the Win 7 way I found the following differences which all relate to the security settings. This is of course a bug or a design defect and BIG problem for the IT Pro. Here is what my two WSETTING.WFC files look like. For XP I have: <?xml version="1.0"?> <wirelessProfile xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/provisioning/WirelessProfile/2004"> <config> <configId>011C0F3E-EB0F-46B8-BA95-267ADEA25EC3</configId> <configAuthorId>0B4E59B8-8317-46B2-B8C2-C46850162E6C</configAuthorId> <configAuthor>Microsoft Wireless Network Setup Wizard</configAuthor> </config> <ssid xml:space="preserve">Student</ssid> <connectionType>ESS</connectionType> <channel2Dot4>0</channel2Dot4> <channel5Dot0>0</channel5Dot0> <primaryProfile> <authentication>open</authentication> <encryption>WEP</encryption> <networkKey xml:space="preserve">12345</networkKey> <keyProvidedAutomatically>0</keyProvidedAutomatically> <ieee802Dot1xEnabled>0</ieee802Dot1xEnabled> </primaryProfile> </wirelessProfile> For Win 7 I have: <?xml version="1.0"?> <wirelessProfile xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/provisioning/WirelessProfile/2004"> <config> <configId>01BC3658-4F27-42D1-92F7-3F7CF581A75E</configId> <configAuthorId>0B4E59B8-8317-46B2-B8C2-C46850162E6C</configAuthorId> <configAuthor>Microsoft Wireless Network Setup Wizard</configAuthor> </config> <ssid xml:space="preserve">Student</ssid> <connectionType>ESS</connectionType> <channel2Dot4>0</channel2Dot4> <channel5Dot0>0</channel5Dot0> <primaryProfile> <authentication>open</authentication> <encryption>none</encryption> <networkKey xml:space="preserve"></networkKey> <keyProvidedAutomatically>0</keyProvidedAutomatically> <ieee802Dot1xEnabled>0</ieee802Dot1xEnabled> </primaryProfile> </wirelessProfile> There seems to be ONLY two lines that are different between the two files and are as follows... For XP: <encryption>WEP</encryption> <networkKey xml:space="preserve">12345</networkKey> For Win 7: <encryption>none</encryption> <networkKey xml:space="preserve"></networkKey> As you can see the difference is in the security settings which I do not use. (This is a choice made by powers above me and I have to work with that. MS needs to keep in mind that at ALL times the IT pro must have the last say on optional settings NOT MS) It would seem that Microsoft, when they created this tool never intended it to be used by IT professionals as they are forcing settings that are for the IT Pro to decide about AT ALL TIMES, not MS. IE to use WEP/WPA etc or NONE. So am I missing something? How do I create an automated way that I can run thousands of times on XP, Win 7, or Vista without error for setting up WiFi profiles that will have NO apparent security but that actually do? I would do it VIA reg setting if I knew where to find all the reg settings for doing it, but hours of Googleing did not provide that info. Everything seems to point to the network profile VIA USB method, which would be perfect if it worked on XP. If there was a simple file I could copy from a master system to its many clones then that would work. I could bundle it up in a .BAT file or use INNO Script to make a setup file etc. Many many ways I could do it if I could find all file, settings etc I would need to control. This should not be rocket science. I have seen where Microsoft has said that they recognize the need for IT professionals such as myself to be able to automate this process for the none tech user, but then the tools they make are NOT for the professional as they take away the option of the PROFESSIONAL (The tech on the spot who knows the most, NOT MS) to decide, using their inside knowledge of the enterprises needs to make choices on the use or non use of WEP etc. (This is a common theme in MS wizards, just look at the hack job SYSPrep is which bases the default profile on the local admin profile, a MAJOR error and security risk, making it useless in the enterprise environment where the local Admin profile is pre-configured with options, settings, links, etc to things an IT pro does not want the general user to see or get but that they need on the local admin ONLY) Thanks for any help one can give, Ralph Malph

This is a normal behavior. Configurations exported in Windows 7 are not compatible with Windows XP.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.

Arthur Xie, Thanks for the response. I am not surprised that there is an incompatability between the Win 7 and XP WiFi setup, however that does not diminish the need to be able to create a setup type of file/program, or what ever, that can automaticly setup the WiFi on an XP system, with NO security used. So how do I create an automatic WiFi setup routine for Window XP systems. The "Wireless network setup Wizard can not be used as it has a design defect which forces you to implement WEP or WPA etc security which for my needs and thousands of other enterprise size organizations makes it USELESS!. (you would think that by SP3 that design defect would have been caught and fixed.) Bottom line is I need to be able to in one click setup the WiFi for 3 different WiFi access points, on Win XP and above systems. (each "click" would be for a different WiFi, not all three at once). All the access points will be OPEN with no security, 2 will broadcast the SSID, one will not and that needs to be taken in to consideration. I also need to make sure that Windows is set to control the WiFi with this one click setup program, the program should check for this and adjust as needed. This needs to be done on hundreds of PCs with different brands of WiFi cards installed. I know it can be done as there are variouse 3rd party products that can manipulate the WiFi, not to mention the built in MS tool for doing so etc. So what are ALL the places that need to be touched? Every .ini, registry setting, xml file, what ever needs to be touched and in what format, if its a long binary string in a reg setting I will need a bit by bit map etc. If needed I could use VB to write a program if I can identify ALL the things I would need to "touch" to do it. I have been searching for this info for quite a while but it seems that the "complete" explanation and list of ALL the involved components etc are being keep secret. NOT GOOD! This being a Microsoft supported forum for help with Microsoft products I expect that this info should be a no brainier for MS to deliver so thanks in advance for the info. Ralph Malph

have you resolved this problem? this problem is similar to mine.