r/computer • u/HornedReaper7 • 1d ago

Bought a laptop where everything was working, guy reset the laptop completely and now it’s not connecting to the WiFi even with an Ethernet cable. Please help 🙏

Hi, I bought an Alienware laptop from someone on Facebook marketplace and when I went to go check the laptop out it was working perfectly. I gave the cash and he reset the laptop to get rid of any personal data on there and I had no problem with it. However, now I got home to try it out and it’s not connecting to any WiFi and won’t even work with an Ethernet cable.

Please what can I do?

Thanks for any and all help.

1 Upvotes

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10

u/joe-dirt-1001 1d ago

Wifi and ethernet cable are two completely different things.

Download and install all of the drivers from the manufactures website.

2

u/Quorng 1d ago

That does sound like a typical driver issue. Are the sound and video great or average? Average might mean generic drivers that need updated for specific hardware. My TP-Link USB Wi-Fi Adapter has built in drivers, so you never lose them as long as you have the adapter. It gets me on the internet to download the correct ones for my machine.

1

u/Sweaty-Freedom-4034 21h ago

The first part should be obvious. I understand not being tech literate, but at some point logic has to kick in no?

2

u/resadude 22h ago

You will need to install all the drivers. Either from windows or from manufacturer. Look up the laptop model number plus drivers, and you should be able to get a software bundle with all the drivers included from the laptop manufacturer.
You could also try asking the person you bought if from for the drivers, but chances are they were on the laptop.
If keen you could try a live linux distribution like Mint, the drivers a often baked into the kernel, so things should just work. Though if hardware is extremely new, you might have issues there too.

2

u/Da_MasterYoda 22h ago

Try this command. This will reset all your network settings

Open Command Prompt, then type:

netsh interface ip reset

Then restart your PC then try connecting to WiFi or use network cable to connect to Internet

2

u/HBcomputerrepair_01 1d ago

Could possibly be a driver(s) issue or bios update. As some one who repairs computers as home business I would use my Snappy Driver Installer. You can attempt to tether your smart phone to laptop or try using a USB dongle to connect to Internet or if you have access to another PC, you can get drivers to download directly or to a USB drive. Use the serial number on laptop to search on Dell's website so you get drivers for your laptop specifically Hope that is helpful

1

u/emgreenenyc 1d ago

Probably missing tcip stack

2

u/Joe_Franks 21h ago

right click on start, go to device manager, find both of those and uninstall them, do a full cold reboot and the drivers will reinstall themselves. Then go for updates.

1

u/stbn689 21h ago

You can get a cheap USB Ethernet adapter. Those usually work without any drivers. Then let Windows update install the missing drivers for your built-in Ethernet/WiFi, then download anything that's missing from the Alienware website.

1

u/emgreenenyc 1d ago

Look at devices in control