- Windows XP Home SP2 and missing WPA encryption
- Posted by Brad on November 24th, 2005
Alright, I convinced my parents to make the switch to a wireless router, and
I installed a nice Linksys router for them. The install went well, and I
have it runnig fine. All the wired computers on our network work great with
it, as does my laptop (which is running XP Pro SP2).
However when I tried to set my dad's laptop up (it is running XP Home Sp2),
it just would not give me the option to enable it to connect to a wireless
network running WPA encryption. It only gives me the option of WEP
encryption (which I tried and it still does not work). I spen three hours
last night installing SP2 on it and installing every hotfix after that, but
it still does not want to connect to the network with a WPA key, even though
it can see the network perfectly. I installed the latest drivers for the
network card on it, hoping that would do it, but it has not. I am thinking
that the problem is with Windows "not knowing" about WPA encryption.
Are there any suggestions as to how I could try to get the thing to
recognize the network's WPA encryption?
- Posted by Malke on November 24th, 2005
Brad wrote:
> Alright, I convinced my parents to make the switch to a wireless
> router, and
> I installed a nice Linksys router for them. The install went well,
> and I
> have it runnig fine. All the wired computers on our network work
> great with it, as does my laptop (which is running XP Pro SP2).
>
> However when I tried to set my dad's laptop up (it is running XP Home
> Sp2), it just would not give me the option to enable it to connect to
> a wireless
> network running WPA encryption. It only gives me the option of WEP
> encryption (which I tried and it still does not work). I spen three
> hours last night installing SP2 on it and installing every hotfix
> after that, but it still does not want to connect to the network with
> a WPA key, even though
> it can see the network perfectly. I installed the latest drivers for
> the
> network card on it, hoping that would do it, but it has not. I am
> thinking that the problem is with Windows "not knowing" about WPA
> encryption.
>
> Are there any suggestions as to how I could try to get the thing to
> recognize the network's WPA encryption?
XP SP2 knows about WPA. It is more likely that the hardware in your
Dad's computer does not support WPA. Older wireless hardware doesn't.
Check on the device mftr.'s site for this information. Sometimes there
will be a firmware update.
All devices on the network must support WPA if you are going to use this
newer, better standard.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
- Posted by Brad on November 24th, 2005
"Malke" wrote:
> Brad wrote:
>
> > Alright, I convinced my parents to make the switch to a wireless
> > router, and
> > I installed a nice Linksys router for them. The install went well,
> > and I
> > have it runnig fine. All the wired computers on our network work
> > great with it, as does my laptop (which is running XP Pro SP2).
> >
> > However when I tried to set my dad's laptop up (it is running XP Home
> > Sp2), it just would not give me the option to enable it to connect to
> > a wireless
> > network running WPA encryption. It only gives me the option of WEP
> > encryption (which I tried and it still does not work). I spen three
> > hours last night installing SP2 on it and installing every hotfix
> > after that, but it still does not want to connect to the network with
> > a WPA key, even though
> > it can see the network perfectly. I installed the latest drivers for
> > the
> > network card on it, hoping that would do it, but it has not. I am
> > thinking that the problem is with Windows "not knowing" about WPA
> > encryption.
> >
> > Are there any suggestions as to how I could try to get the thing to
> > recognize the network's WPA encryption?
>
> XP SP2 knows about WPA. It is more likely that the hardware in your
> Dad's computer does not support WPA. Older wireless hardware doesn't.
> Check on the device mftr.'s site for this information. Sometimes there
> will be a firmware update.
>
> All devices on the network must support WPA if you are going to use this
> newer, better standard.
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>
Huh. I would think it supports WPA as it is probably no more than a year
and a half old. Or something like that. Well, I will take a look and see if
that does annything. Thanks.
- Posted by Barb Bowman MVP-Windows on November 24th, 2005
yes, but it needs new drivers that support WPA. you need to get an
updated driver most likely.
On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:03:06 -0800, "Brad"
<Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>Huh. I would think it supports WPA as it is probably no more than a year
>and a half old. Or something like that. Well, I will take a look and see if
>that does annything. Thanks.
--
Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
Expert Zone Columnist
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
- Posted by Brad on November 24th, 2005
I did some digging and found a firmware/software driver update, and now it
works perfectly. Thanks! 
"Barb Bowman MVP-Windows" wrote:
> yes, but it needs new drivers that support WPA. you need to get an
> updated driver most likely.
>
> On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:03:06 -0800, "Brad"
> <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >Huh. I would think it supports WPA as it is probably no more than a year
> >and a half old. Or something like that. Well, I will take a look and see if
> >that does annything. Thanks.
> --
>
> Barb Bowman
> MS Windows-MVP
> Expert Zone Columnist
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
> http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
>
- Posted by Malke on November 24th, 2005
Brad wrote:
> I did some digging and found a firmware/software driver update, and
> now it
> works perfectly. Thanks!
>
> "Barb Bowman MVP-Windows" wrote:
>
>> yes, but it needs new drivers that support WPA. you need to get an
>> updated driver most likely.
>>
>> On Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:03:06 -0800, "Brad"
>> <Brad@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Huh. I would think it supports WPA as it is probably no more than a
>> >year
>> >and a half old. Or something like that. Well, I will take a look
>> >and see if
>> >that does annything. Thanks.
Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to post the solution.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
