Member Avatar for Whilliam

Hello. Just had a brand new acer laptop. I had it in Linux and I just changed it to windows XP. I didn't copy any file from Linux, I deleted eveything immediately. Now, I can't connect to our wifi internet connection. It can't even open Movie Maker because the required audio hardware cannot be found on my computer. Going back to the internet connection. Acer has a wireless lan communication button at the right side of the power button. When my laptop was in linux, I can turn it on and off when I want to. Now, it won't turn on.
Do I have to configure my hardware settings? How will I do it? Please help.

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Short summary and likely cause: after wiping Linux and doing a clean XP install the laptop is missing vendor drivers and Acer utilities that make the hardware buttons and built-in devices work. The wireless on/off button and audio are normally controlled by the Wi‑Fi driver plus the vendor hotkey/utility (Launch Manager / Quick Access) and a working chipset driver; if those pieces are missing Windows will report “audio hardware not found” and the wireless button will appear dead. See Acer’s guidance on picking the correct drivers and the note that drivers are tied to the model/OS. (community.acer.com)

Start with Device Manager (expand Network adapters, Sound/Video, and Other devices). Look for yellow exclamation marks, Unknown devices or disabled devices. For any unknown entry open Properties → Details → Hardware Ids and copy the top VID/PID string — that lets you identify the vendor and find the correct driver if Acer’s site does not name the part. If the laptop has no internet, download drivers on another PC and copy them with a USB stick. (Using the hardware IDs is the most reliable way to match drivers.) (learn.microsoft.com)

Driver install order and vendor utilities: install the chipset first, then system utilities/launch manager (hotkey support), audio, LAN and WLAN drivers, then WLAN utilities. The Launch Manager/Quick Access (or equivalent ATK/Hotkey package) is often required for the physical wireless button and Fn combos to work; get drivers/apps from Acer’s Drivers & Manuals page for your exact model (use SN/Model). Also confirm the Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) / WLAN AutoConfig service is enabled in XP so Windows can manage networks. (community.acer.com)

Audio specifics and final checks: if Movie Maker reports missing audio hardware, reinstall the audio driver (Realtek or the vendor shown in Device Manager) and check Acer’s XP audio troubleshooting steps (volume hotkeys, Sound Effect Manager, uninstall/reinstall driver). If Acer does not list XP drivers for your model (many systems shipped with a different OS), either use the vendor chipset/Wi‑Fi drivers directly or consider reinstalling the OS that shipped with the laptop or using Linux again. Follow Acer’s XP driver-install steps (extract, run setup.exe, reboot) when installing. (community.acer.com)

If more detail is wanted (exact model number, screenshots of Device Manager or the Hardware Id lines) the next troubleshooting steps are identification of the WLAN/audio vendor IDs and linking to the matching driver installers.

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Member Avatar for Whilliam

anyone?

Member Avatar for JavaDad

It sounds like it could be a driver issue. Have you checked the device manager to see if there are any yellow exclamation points? Thats where I would start.

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