Another program is controlling Wireless

[labon210]

If one spends any amount of time in the tech industry soon he'll see the "Another program is controlling Wireless..." And usually its an easy repair simiply find the the thirdparty program that has overpowered the NIC; however I have already spent too much time running down the program that is controlling the NIC, and am hoping that someone knows a hack to force windows to control the NIC.

Any ideas?

 

[TimeCode]

Usually if you run Autoruns and prevent it from starting up, Windows zero Config will take over automatically.

 

[iisjman07]

You could try uninstalling the device in Device Manager and re-instaling it. You never know, it may forget the settings or something... But yeah try using Autoruns to see if you can find it and/or look in Services and see if anything has 'wireless' or something in the name...

 

[bagellad]

unless its a virus doesn't it have some sort of program icon in the bottom right?

 

[Larry Sabo]

Also check that it's not still in Startup.

 

[studiot]

someone knows a hack to force windows to control the NIC.

Isn't it called device manager?

 

[ithinkyou5.0]

there were settings in xp for letting windows control the wireless, never ran into the problem with vista or win7 cos there usualy pretty good with there own drivers for wireless cards but i usualy uninstall the program and windows defaults to take control if theres a vista issue although there probably is a setting in vista for it to manage wireless

 

[PDXMicro]

If one spends any amount of time in the tech industry soon he'll see the "Another program is controlling Wireless..." And usually its an easy repair simiply find the the thirdparty program that has overpowered the NIC; however I have already spent too much time running down the program that is controlling the NIC, and am hoping that someone knows a hack to force windows to control the NIC.

Any ideas?

I've ran into this before. If possible, find out the wireless chip manufacturer on the wireless card. For example, many times the Trendnet Wireless cards have a Realtek chipset. If you google the numbers on the chip, it should take you to a direct driver download (drivers only, no software fluff that comes with the adapters now-a-days). Uninstall the device in device manager, shut down the computer, remove the card, start up the computer, install the drivers (if possible, if not, at least extract them to the desktop), remove the previous program that had control of the wireless card (if possible, if not, try safe mode) then shut down. Install the card again and start the computer. Hopefully it asks you to find drivers for the device, if so, install the one you downloaded. If it installs drivers automatically (didn't happen to me), you can try to tell it to update the drivers for that device and give it the desktop location.

 

[Cue]

There is a Windows service called Windows Zero Configuration (WZC) that has to be set to automatic and running.

There is also a setting in the connection properties that has to be marked.

 

[thor999]

Can't he msconfig -> hide microsoft -> disable all, then restart them one at a time to find the culprit? Please, try the other options first, I want to know if they work or not

 

[K007]

There is a Windows service called Windows Zero Configuration (WZC) that has to be set to automatic and running.

There is also a setting in the connection properties that has to be marked.

I second that.
Once you start that service and set it to "Automatic" the problem is fixed.
Come on guys, out of so many replies only Cue knew the answer?
What is your line of work? Planting patatoes?

 

[studiot]

I second that.
Once you start that service and set it to "Automatic" the problem is fixed.
Come on guys, out of so many replies only Cue knew the answer?
What is your line of work? Planting patatoes?

Actually I have just had a client who bought a new D-link wireless N transmitter and couldn't connect.

The wireless zero service was actually suppressed (not just turned off) by the software so it didn't show in the MSC.

We all learn new tricks from the latest woes of others, even the most experienced.

 

[thor999]

POtatoes, sir, we are planting, yes! I remembered this solution as not being a "cure-all" I guess for this very reason. Best to have another router and modem in the arsenal of course!

 

[thor999]

I've ran into this before. If possible, find out the wireless chip manufacturer on the wireless card. For example, many times the Trendnet Wireless cards have a Realtek chipset. If you google the numbers on the chip, it should take you to a direct driver download (drivers only, no software fluff that comes with the adapters now-a-days). Uninstall the device in device manager, shut down the computer, remove the card, start up the computer, install the drivers (if possible, if not, at least extract them to the desktop), remove the previous program that had control of the wireless card (if possible, if not, try safe mode) then shut down. Install the card again and start the computer. Hopefully it asks you to find drivers for the device, if so, install the one you downloaded. If it installs drivers automatically (didn't happen to me), you can try to tell it to update the drivers for that device and give it the desktop location.

I really really like this solution, try it first!

 

[atlanticjim]

I've ran into this before. If possible, find out the wireless chip manufacturer on the wireless card. For example, many times the Trendnet Wireless cards have a Realtek chipset. If you google the numbers on the chip, it should take you to a direct driver download (drivers only, no software fluff that comes with the adapters now-a-days). Uninstall the device in device manager, shut down the computer, remove the card, start up the computer, install the drivers (if possible, if not, at least extract them to the desktop), remove the previous program that had control of the wireless card (if possible, if not, try safe mode) then shut down. Install the card again and start the computer. Hopefully it asks you to find drivers for the device, if so, install the one you downloaded. If it installs drivers automatically (didn't happen to me), you can try to tell it to update the drivers for that device and give it the desktop location.

Can anyone tell me if they prefer the manufacturer's interface rather than the WZC? I have never found an advantage, perhaps it is just that I prefer a clean lean machine. (see PC DeCrapifier) Also, many utilities will invoke the WZC and if the proprietary software has control you have to release it to the WZC.
Anyway, I do pretty much the same thing even with the new install of a wireless network device, (uninstall if necessary), install the device and boot, when Win asks for the driver, insert the CD and stop the autorun, let MS find the driver and install it. It will default to the WZC.

 

[NickCat11]

Can anyone tell me if they prefer the manufacturer's interface rather than the WZC? I have never found an advantage, perhaps it is just that I prefer a clean lean machine. (see PC DeCrapifier) Also, many utilities will invoke the WZC and if the proprietary software has control you have to release it to the WZC.
Anyway, I do pretty much the same thing even with the new install of a wireless network device, (uninstall if necessary), install the device and boot, when Win asks for the driver, insert the CD and stop the autorun, let MS find the driver and install it. It will default to the WZC.

I feel the same way, I always stick with WZC. It's more user friendly, especially for the customer.

 

[studiot]

I always stick with WZC.

Bear in mind that if your client buys an Acer it will be pre-configured with the Acer proprietary software, which also performs other Acer specific functions.

Uninstalling this can have greater ramifications than just the wifi.

There are a lot of Acer laptops about.

 

[NickCat11]

Bear in mind that if your client buys an Acer it will be pre-configured with the Acer proprietary software, which also performs other Acer specific functions.

Uninstalling this can have greater ramifications than just the wifi.

There are a lot of Acer laptops about.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep that in mind next time I have one come in

 

[ComputerClinic]

Also, go to network connections in the control panel and right click "wireless network connection" and click properties. Go to the "wireless networks" tab and make sure "use windows to configure my wireless network settings" is checked.

 

[PDXMicro]

Can anyone tell me if they prefer the manufacturer's interface rather than the WZC? I have never found an advantage, perhaps it is just that I prefer a clean lean machine. (see PC DeCrapifier) Also, many utilities will invoke the WZC and if the proprietary software has control you have to release it to the WZC.
Anyway, I do pretty much the same thing even with the new install of a wireless network device, (uninstall if necessary), install the device and boot, when Win asks for the driver, insert the CD and stop the autorun, let MS find the driver and install it. It will default to the WZC.

I personally like the windows zero configuration service myself, that's exactly why I recommended only downloading the drivers for the chipset without all the software fluff and takeover doodads. As long as the drivers itself are installed (without the software), the WZC will take over. If he initially stopped the autorun and let MS find the driver and install it, he wouldn't be in this situation - but since he is, he needs to get rid of the software first. The software will not release the control of the wireless card unless it either (1) is uninstalled or (2) is told to do so. This is why I posted the steps I did