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Problem: Huge memory usage with Netgear WPN111 wireless adapter

Hi,

My PC frequently runs very slowly. Task Manager showed two instances of WPN111.exe (the manager for my Netgear WPN111 wireless adapter), each instance using up over 400Meg of memory and climbing. Questions:

(1) Has anyone else seen this problem? Any idea of the cause and cure?

(2) I am running Windows XP Pro with separate logins for several members of my family. Each person currently logged in gets their own instance of the WPN111.exe program running. This seems a bad design: why shouldn't the program be a system program, running a single instance?

(3) The program typically uses 5-7% of the CPU, even if nothing is being downloaded. This seems excessive. Is there a fix?

(4) The wireless connection seems to get dropped a lot. Popping the wireless adapter out and back in usually cures it. If there a better solution?

Regards,

Ponge

Reply to
pongevoorst
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In message , snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com writes

Can you let Windows manage the connection and ditch the Netgear stuff?

Why not make it one then?

New drivers?

Download newer drivers if available, if not then ditch the POS and buy a different brand if you absolutely have to use WiFi.

Reply to
Clint Sharp

Ha! I checked the Netgear web site, and found that I already have the latest drivers. Then I uninstalled and re-installed all the Netgear WPN111 software, specifying "Let Windows Zero Configuration manage the connection." Reboot. The network works fine. The WPN111.exe process is still there, growing in size. So, I killed the process, and... NOTHING WENT WRONG!

As far as I can tell, the WPN111.exe process is a useless memory leaker. It can be stopped without dire consequences. What on earth are Netgear playing at? Naturally there is no mention of this problem (or this process) on their support website. I'd swich to a different WiFi adapter, except that Netgear Rangemax is a proprietary system, so I'd drop back to 'g' speeds.

I don't want to have to find and kill the WPN111.exe processes every time a member of my family logs onto XP. Does anyone know how I can tell XP not to run it at logon?

Ponge

Reply to
pongevoorst

OK, cracked it. The WPN111.exe program is "Netgear WPN111 Smart Wizard". I just renamed the WPN111.exe file, and it no longer starts up.

Ponge

Reply to
pongevoorst

Uh, how about just checking the Startup folder? Or the Run registry entry? Renaming the executable won't help you if/when you ever update the driver and it puts it back again.

Reply to
Bill Kearney

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