Without knowing the details of the hardware and any associated software, if applicable, it is absolutley impossible to tell you what is happening. You should be contacting the manufacturer of the hardware and/or the publisher of the software, if applicable, since they will be the only people that will know exactly what is happening with their third party hardware and/or software. If this is a custom piece of hardware you are developing, then you need to go to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) to get more information about developing for Windows 7.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I'm evaluating a custom hardware device which sets up an unsecured ad hoc network. My Windows 7 (Home Premium) laptop used to be able to connect to the device and retrieve a web page from it. A few days ago it stopped working and although I have tried everything I can think of I can't make it work. My Windows 2000 laptop connects just fine. I have tried disabling my security (Norton) but it doesn't help. All I can remember doing between the last time it worked and when it failed is updating Windows and running Skype (Ethernet connection), I don't remember if the WiFi was turned on at that time. I tried restoring Windows to a point before the last success but it didn't help. I have changed the device code to use a different SSID, IP address, WEP security, etc. but nothing seems to help. When I try to connect, Windows 7 says it is connected and is identifying the network. Eventually it says unidentified network. However, it isn't really connecting, because I have set a breakpoint on the device which triggers when my Win2K laptop connects, but doesn't trigger when the Win7 laptop supposedly connects. I think there must be something saved in Windows 7 which is preventing it from connecting properly, but I don't know where to look for it. I have checked the files in ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces and there's nothing relating to the ad hoc network. I couldn't find anything in the registry, either.

Without knowing the details of the hardware and any associated software, if applicable, it is absolutley impossible to tell you what is happening. You should be contacting the manufacturer of the hardware and/or the publisher of the software, if applicable, since they will be the only people that will know exactly what is happening with their third party hardware and/or software. If this is a custom piece of hardware you are developing, then you need to go to the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) to get more information about developing for Windows 7.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks for responding. The custom hardware is a standalone device and has nothing to do with Windows. The important point is that my Windows 7 laptop used to connect to it and now it doesn't. There's no obvious reason for the change. As the custom hardware hasn't changed, and my Windows 2000 laptop works OK, the problem has to be something in the Windows 7 laptop. I'm an extremely experienced Windows software developer but I'm relatively new to wifi, so I don't know where data/files might be stored which could change the way Windows 7 connects. The wifi adapter is an Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n and I'm using the standard Windows connection software. I took my laptop to a public hotspot and it connected OK to an ad hoc network, so there's nothing wrong with the hardware.

Try changing the wireless channel you use to a lower number channel. I think there is a problem with the higher channel because they are not as stable as the lower ones. I have also seen references claiming the even number channels have more problems that the odd number channels. There are also reports of certain wireless card and other wireless device combinations causing problems, but I have never saved any information about these incompatibilities. Comparing how something works with Win 2000 or Win XP is not really a valid comparison since there have been sginificant changes to the kernel in Vista and Win 7 from previous version of Windows.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I'm evaluating a custom hardware device which sets up an unsecured ad hoc network. My Windows 7 (Home Premium) laptop used to be able to connect to the device and retrieve a web page from it. A few days ago it stopped working and although I have tried everything I can think of I can't make it work. My Windows 2000 laptop connects just fine. I have tried disabling my security (Norton) but it doesn't help. All I can remember doing between the last time it worked and when it failed is updating Windows and running Skype (Ethernet connection), I don't remember if the WiFi was turned on at that time. I tried restoring Windows to a point before the last success but it didn't help. I have changed the device code to use a different SSID, IP address, WEP security, etc. but nothing seems to help. When I try to connect, Windows 7 says it is connected and is identifying the network. Eventually it says unidentified network. However, it isn't really connecting, because I have set a breakpoint on the device which triggers when my Win2K laptop connects, but doesn't trigger when the Win7 laptop supposedly connects. I think there must be something saved in Windows 7 which is preventing it from connecting properly, but I don't know where to look for it. I have checked the files in ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces and there's nothing relating to the ad hoc network. I couldn't find anything in the registry, either. If you have change to a different ssid, IP address, Wep security etc. You would need to ensure the ssid & passphrase (Wep security) is the same for both the router config page as well as the win 7 home laptop wireless settingPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Try changing the wireless channel you use to a lower number channel. I think there is a problem with the higher channel because they are not as stable as the lower ones. I have also seen references claiming the even number channels have more problems that the odd number channels. There are also reports of certain wireless card and other wireless device combinations causing problems, but I have never saved any information about these incompatibilities. Comparing how something works with Win 2000 or Win XP is not really a valid comparison since there have been sginificant changes to the kernel in Vista and Win 7 from previous version of Windows.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

I'm evaluating a custom hardware device which sets up an unsecured ad hoc network. My Windows 7 (Home Premium) laptop used to be able to connect to the device and retrieve a web page from it. A few days ago it stopped working and although I have tried everything I can think of I can't make it work. My Windows 2000 laptop connects just fine. I have tried disabling my security (Norton) but it doesn't help. All I can remember doing between the last time it worked and when it failed is updating Windows and running Skype (Ethernet connection), I don't remember if the WiFi was turned on at that time. I tried restoring Windows to a point before the last success but it didn't help. I have changed the device code to use a different SSID, IP address, WEP security, etc. but nothing seems to help. When I try to connect, Windows 7 says it is connected and is identifying the network. Eventually it says unidentified network. However, it isn't really connecting, because I have set a breakpoint on the device which triggers when my Win2K laptop connects, but doesn't trigger when the Win7 laptop supposedly connects. I think there must be something saved in Windows 7 which is preventing it from connecting properly, but I don't know where to look for it. I have checked the files in ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces and there's nothing relating to the ad hoc network. I couldn't find anything in the registry, either. If you have change to a different ssid, IP address, Wep security etc. You would need to ensure the ssid & passphrase (Wep security) is the same for both the router config page as well as the win 7 home laptop wireless settingPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi, You may reinstall the adapter driver. Meanwhile, you'd better reinstall Norton.