Vista SP1 disables WiFi adapter

I recently bought a Sony Vaio VGN-NR220E laptop. Vista was preinstalled. I downoaded and installed SP1 the other day, and the onboard WiFi adapter went south. The Wireless LAN indicator light would not come on, and the Vista "Network and Sharing Center" no longer included that adapter. The Device Manager said that the adapter was working normally.

I restored the laptop from a backup I had done prior to installing SP1, and the onboard adapter is working again.

Anybody else had this problem with SP1?

That gives me hope. Mine also has an Atheros adapter.

Sony support suggested that I reinstall SP1 and if the problem occurs again to reinstall the adapter's driver.

If you're really in Alaska, the only real way to go is south.

I have two customers with current Sony laptops. I installed Vista SP1 when it arrived and have seen no problems. However, I also went through the trouble of downloading all applicable driver updates. Start here:

Apparently there are some hardware conflicts that break things in Vista with SP1. For example:

However, the wireless device is not one of those listed. I don't think this applies.

In the past, when I have such hardware issues, I almost immediately go for the BIOS updates. I just fixed a Toshiba laptop that was disabling the wireless card if I switched to an external monitor. The BIOS update fixed it. However, I don't see any MB BIOS updates in the list of Sony downloads, so that's not going to happen. I guess you wait for Sony to figure it out.

The problem was apparently with that particular laptop or model.

The WiFi adapter stopped working again, without SP 1 installed. Same symptoms as earlier.

I returned it to Best Buy and selected another Sony Vaio. The sales rep mentioned that they have "discovered" that there was a problem with the WiFi adapters in the model that I had purchased a week ago. The model I got this time has an Intel b/g/n adapter, and SP 1 was already installed. It works fine.

Q: What's the difference between a used car salesman and a computer saleman?

A: The used car salesman KNOWS when he's lying to you.