I am trying to use a netgear wireless adapter on my computer. Previously it was on an older (now unused computer) with 98 SE but we don't need to discuss this. I have both XP Pro SP 3 & VIsta Buisness SP 1 on my computer. The adapter works fine on XP however I have yet to be able to use on it on my install of Vista. I contacted netgear & to make a long story short, I was told (after telling them that the adapter works on XP on the same computer) that the adapter works & that the drivers from the website should allow me to use it so they aren't installing correctly & so that it must be a problem with my installation of vista. To confirm this they asked that I install the card on another Vista computer but I can't install it on the other Vista desktop w/out voiding the warranty (if I'm reading the terms correctly) or paying someone else to do it. So today I decided to reinstall Vista. After installing Vista, SP1, & my other drivers (in that order) I tried to install the adapter again. Still nothing. I should say that the program that is installed by the drivers doesn't load (but does show up in task manager) after the install is complete & I have rebooted the computer. The devise manager has an exclamation mark beside the netgear entry & under the properties for the entry it says that the device can't be started & gives me error code 10. During install the only possible indication of a problem is a pop up stating that the driver hasn't passed some windows test (which has a red border around it) to which I tell it to install the drivers any way. The rest of the installation proceeds normally. I am trying to install the most recent drivers for the device.

Now I agree with the tech people that neither the adapter nor the slot it is in are bad, so is this a problem with Vista, with SP 1, or does anyone know if their drivers are even compatible with vista? Did I ruin a perfectly good installation of vista for nothing? I thought about calling them again & asking for a supervisor or senior tech. Any thoughts or advise from anyone?

What is the exact model?

NETGEAR Product compatibility for Microsoft Windows Vista

WG311v3. I entered the serial number into their system & it said that it should work in Vista yet it doesn't.

Don't know if this is related but when I tried to install USB 2.0 on IBM m-41 tower made by adaptec the reason it only worked in 1.1 and not 2.0 was because the motherboard was too old to support 2.0 if that helps.

After rereading your post and seeing it works in xp I guess the motherboard supports it. The 98 SE thing confused me.

Sorry you misunderstood the problem. The 98 machine really isn't involved at all. Its just the last machine that it was in. Anyone else?

I would like to figure this out if I can. I reinstalled Vista again without installing SP 1 before installing the drivers for the adapter & it still wouldn't work. I was told by a friend that Vista hates internal wireless adapters but the manufacturer's techs told me that the drivers should work. A senior tech has told me that they have had me try all of the troubleshooting options & thus they can't help me. Can anyone?

*bump*