Laptop Freezes over....

[neomorpheus]

I Installed a LINKSYS Wireless Access Point Router Mode: BEFW11S4 ver.2 on to my Desktop. It works great and am able to get onto the NET.

I also installed a LINKSYS Wireless PCI Card: Model WPC11 ver.3 on my laptop for wireless internet access. I have been having trouble with my laptop freezing evrytime, I connect to an available card. Mouse wont move, CTRL-ALT-DEL wont work....basically need to pull the plug!

If I remove the PCI adapter on my laptop, the laptop functions without any errors. Even installation of the PCI card is ok. But when I connect to a available network ...the problems start.

Called LINKSYS Tech Support....we went thru the whole process all over again, but ended with a frozen computer. They said it could be some IRQ problem that I needed to ask Toshiba about!!. What is IRQ?

Running Windows XP on a Toshiba Tecra 8000 with 7Gb HDD and 128 MB Ram.

Any help or suggestions welcome.

 

[paintballer]

Hi Neomorpheus,
I'm not sure about your problems, but I can answer what an IRQ is. An IRQ is an Interupt ReQuest, which your computer uses internally to prioritize when the system will interupt a process to let another process be... processed.
From About.com: "Definition: Some computer devices need to communicate with high priority. These devices use an Interrupt Request, or IRQ, to interrupt the processor and force the operating system to accept or retrieve data. In older computers with the ISA bus, IRQs are often hard-coded in the device or set via jumpers. In new computers based on the PCI bus, IRQs are allocated automatically by the BIOS and the operating system without user intervention. There are a limited number of IRQ lines (16); some are reserved and unavailable for peripherals, usually leaving 8 for user-installed hardware. Old devices require their own IRQ, while new devices are usually able to share IRQs. Rarely, a modern computer will run out of IRQ lines, making installation of new hardware difficult."

So what Linksys was saying is that perhaps internally your system has communication problems because two devices are trying to use the same IRQ. You can check this by opening your device manager and looking for a yellow excamation mark. Under windows 2000, if you right click on "my computer" and sellect properties, then click the "hardware" tab, and sellect "device manager" it will open the correct window, and look for yellow exlaimation mark. XP works the same way.

Good luck on the rest of it, xp, and 2k usually manage IRQ's pretty well, so I doubt that it's the problem.

Paintballer

 

[manarth]

just a quick note: "I also installed a LINKSYS Wireless PCI Card: Model WPC11 ver.3 on my laptop for wireless internet access"

The WPC11 is a PCMCIA card, not a PCI card.....
Linksys's PCI card is the WMP11.

Make sure when you are installing the driver for the card you install the correct one.

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please give feedback on what works / what doesn't[/li][li]need some help? how to get a better answer: faq581-3339[/li][/ul]