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can't enable WPA - please help

Hi!

I am having some serious problems trying to access WPA wireless networks. My laptop seems to be configured only for WEP. I have a Toshiba Satellite M10 running XP Professional. My wireless card is an Intel(R) Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 3B mini PCI adapter. I have tried updating the driver (via the little "update driver" button within the configuration setup), but this doesn't help.

I have downloaded a file named Q815485_WXP_SP2_x86_ENU (which I read somewhere online would help my problem),but when I try to run it, it says I can only install this update on Service Pack 1.

Can anyone help me? Apologies if I have left out important information or have missed something obvious - while I do use computers every day I am by no means a computer expert.

Best wishes from Vancouver, Canada Corree and her unwireless computer

Reply to
Corree
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Dear Jerry,

Thank you for your quick reply. I have service pack 2 installed and it still doesn't work (I should have mentioned that in the first email).

Corree

Jerry Park wrote:

Reply to
Corree

I believe Windows added WPA support to XP with service pack 1, but it required a separate download (perhaps the file you have?).

SP2 supports WPA without additional patches.

Suggest you either upgrade the OS or find WPA client software to run on Windows pre-XP-SP1.

Reply to
Jerry Park

Are you using a wireless router or wireless access point? Are you using a home network or work network? Being that you have Windows XP (SP2) installed, half of your problem should be solved. Assuming you are using a wireless router or wireless access point, do the following: From a computer that is connected to the wireless router / WAP via an ethernet cable, enter the wireless router's/WAP's menu. Go to the encryption section and select WPA-PSK. Depending on your router/AP, you may see TKIP and /or AES. They are ciphers. Whichever you choose, you must choose the same on your laptop. If you do not see either TKIP or AES, assume it is TKIP. AES is th better of the two, but not all wireless devices offer it. Now enter a passphrase. It is preferred that you use a long nonsense passphrase. For example:

ChYXGBkaJSYnKCkqNDU2Nzg5OkNERUZHSElKU1RVVldYWVpjZGVmZ2hpanN0dXZ

Now enter the Windows Wireless Zero Configuration Utility on your laptop. Select WPA-PSK (TKIP or AES) and type in the exact passphrase you used in the wireless router /WAP menu. You should now be able to connect. Also, I am assuming you know about SSID broadcasting, MAC filtering, etc.

Reply to
Doug Jamal

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