Wireless dead

[Cuber001]

Ok so i have a question.

I have a HP Pavillion dv6700 laptop and it has been awesome. Had it for around 6 months and used wireless the whole time. The other day it just would not connect. In the nitification box it says "connection status unknown. The dependency service or group failed to start"

So i called my ISP out thinking it was their problem. 3 hours later no luck. The guy managed to get it to connect via Ethernet but for wireless no luck. So he changed the modem and said, see if the PS3 connects. It did. He than tried to stream from the PC to playstation, but again no luck. He than tried a USB wireless adapter, and again no luck.

So he than said try a system restore. We did and i just get an error saying " The Disk, Local Disk (C) has errors.

So i ask WTF is going on? Has anybody got any idea? Because its pissing me off. I like to carry my laptop anywhere i go around the house, and now im confined. Its obviously the PC, but the computer says the wireless is fine, when it just refuses to connect. Any help would be appreciated.

[funkydan]

I imagine you had a years guarantee on the laptop when you bought it (presming you bought it new) so I'd contact the shop that you bought it from, or contact HP directly.

[neoboy259]

If the C: drive has errors, you're going to need a new hard disk, sounds like its knackered. You'd be best off backing up your data and getting the drive sorted before fixing the WiFi. Probably not the advice you're looking for.

Best of luck!

[Cuber001]

I imagine you had a years guarantee on the laptop when you bought it (presming you bought it new) so I'd contact the shop that you bought it from, or contact HP directly.

Yeah it has a 1 year warranty. I bought it new so it is still in warranty. I tried contacting HP twice. Both times they said they would get a technician to call back, and never recieved a call.

Neoboy, any ideas why i would need a new one? Why would it have errors? I am a bit PC stupid. I mean, i was on the net, went to bed, woke up, came home from work and the net was not working and now i get this error. I will ring the store tomorrow and see what they say anyway.

Thanks for the help!

[neoboy259]

If its under warranty then I'd get the hard drive fixed/replaced by them.

[Strolls]

... In the nitification box it says "connection status unknown. The dependency service or group failed to start" ...

This is a software problem with Windows, not any problem with your router or (surely) the laptop's wifi hardware.

... Neoboy, any ideas why i would need a new one? Why would it have errors? I am a bit PC stupid.

Neoboy could be wrong. This problem can happen either because the hard-disk is physically failing or through data corruption.

The hard-disk is a metal platter spinning at about 5000rpm. Your car's engine also spins at about 5000rpm, and look at the big oil cooling system that lubricates it - harddrives may have a bearing in the middle, but they don't have that. So the hard-drive is the component in your computer most likely to fail, and the fix is to replace it and reinstall Windows.

On the other hand, it could just be that data has gotten misplaced on the disk for some reason. Lets say Windows Update is running as it shuts down - it will copy a new version of system_file.dll to the hard drive, remove the old version and change the entry in the drive's index (file allocation table) to point to the new version. If you were to get impatient waiting for it to shutdown & hold down the power button, or if the battery were to die, you might well find that it gets as far as deleting the old version of system_file.dll, but not recording the location of the new one. Thus any service - such as wifi - that depends upon system_file.dll will be unable to start. The filesystem of the disk may be described as "having errors" because it contains a pointer to a file that's not there.

Please note that this is not by any means a 101% strictly accurate description of how filesystems work, but it's close enough for this explanation.

Anyway, the only way to find out for sure whether the disk corruption is down to a drive that's physically failing or whether it's just a "glitch" is to backup all your data first and then format the hard-drive & reinstall Windows. If it continues to work ok then the hard-drive is good, if it immediately breaks again then replace the drive.

Stroller.

[NemesiS]

I've have had this issue a few times. In most cases it's usually the Wireless controller driver NOT the Wireless device driver.

Find it and reinstall it (re-install both for good measure) before you do any major surgery regarding re-formats etc. It may be that simple.

I also find it hard to believe that your HDD is to blame. You would have been getting a shedload more errors besides the wireless connection if it was. It may be, but i'm doubtful.

It looks a software issue to me.

[GluedOnBeard]

Something no one else has mentioned here. When there was a lot more wireless traffic around our house our router stopped working as well. What router do you have?

I had to change the wireless channel from b/g to either one depending on your preference.