# connecting to wireless internet with old Dell Latitude laptop



## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

I have been told that I can't do this but then another said it is possible. I only know enough to get myself in trouble but...At an estate sale I bought for $20 an old Dell Latitude CP that has no wireless connectivity. It has no CD drive, it has a floppy drive, a 56k PC card modem stuck in a slot on the side, Windows 98 operating system. The person that had it connected thru dial up. I need to be able to connect to my AT&T wireless modem. Is this possible with a USB connection of some type? Please help, I am pretty much clueless...


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

should be able to. I think that that 56k is in a pcm-cia slot, you can probably still buy wireless adaptors for those.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

yup, looks like best buy has them. I would imagine that any electronics store around you would have them.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchp...p=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Make sure that whatever you buy has a Windows 98 driver. I think that 98SE supports Wi-Fi, I'm not totally sure that Windows 98 does.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

yup, looks like best buy has them. I would imagine that any electronics store around you would have them.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpa...egories&ks=960

Thanks! I went to the link above but there are 7 different things there and I don't know which one I should be looking at. Also how do I find out if it has a Windows 98 driver?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

For your link, Terry, I get page not found. For valis's link I find no wireless adapters. Let me throw out another link: example

For driver info look for "compatibility" or "system requirements" or similar in the specifications. For the above example I see "System Requirements - Microsoft *Windows 98 Second Edition* / Windows ME, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP."

Finding a wireless adapter old enough to have a 98 or 98SE driver in a retail store offering mostly new products is not going to be a pleasant task I suspect.

You asked about USB; the answer is yes there are a multitude of USB wireless adapters sold "anywhere" you can find computer equipment (many examples). The trick for you is to find one with a Windows 98 (or 98SE) driver.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

TerryNet said:


> For your link, Terry, I get page not found. For valis's link I find no wireless adapters. Let me throw out another link: example
> 
> For driver info look for "compatibility" or "system requirements" or similar in the specifications. For the above example I see "System Requirements - Microsoft *Windows 98 Second Edition* / Windows ME, Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP."
> 
> ...


Thank you so much! I went to the site and this sounds like what I am looking for. I also checked and found out that my operatingn system is actually 98SE not 98 like I thought. Thank you again!!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

You're welcome.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

I don't know if I can just reopen this by clicking "unsolved" so please bear with me...in ref to my original problem about an old Dell C-series laptop, I now have a wireless notebook adaptor (as TerryNet suggested and found a link for me) and it came with a CD to use to install but this being an OLD laptop I had no CD rom. SO I found that I could get one and did and now I have the CD rom module for my old Dell C-series laptop. I am assuming that I can simply take the floppy drive out and insert the CD one? There are no instructions to say any dif but I am gun shy. Please send help...


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Have you searched on the Dell site for a maintenance manual or user guide? There may be a Service Tag on the laptop's bottom, which makes searching easier.

If the floppy and CD are interchangeable the floppy should just slide out when you press the nearby eject button, or possibly have one screw in the laptop's bottom to secure the drive.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

Thanks...I got the CD rom installed. Then I ran through the setup for the wireless adaptor. I am sure I need to change something on the laptop itself because I cannot connect to the internet. I have set the internet connections to LAN (seemed like the right thing to do) but I get to a point where it wants the Windows 98 SE CD and I do not have it. (I got this computer at an estate sale) Suggestions? I tried an old Windows 98 CD that I had from ages ago but when I put it in it says that I have performed an illegal action and shuts down. (I am waiting for the Windows police...) Is there any way this will work or I can bypass the action?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

You are using the wireless utility from the CD, right (I don't think that 98SE has a built-in utility)? Do you detect your network? What happens when you try to connect? Can you access the router but do not have internet access?

I have no idea what "I have set the internet connections to LAN" means. The only networking I did with 98SE was dial-up and ethernet, and knew very little about the latter.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

TerryNet said:


> You are using the wireless utility from the CD, right (I don't think that 98SE has a built-in utility)? Do you detect your network? What happens when you try to connect? Can you access the router but do not have internet access?
> 
> I have no idea what "I have set the internet connections to LAN" means. The only networking I did with 98SE was dial-up and ethernet, and knew very little about the latter.


Yes, I am using the wireless utility from the CD. The last window in the installation process says to insert the Windows 98 SE CD to finish. I do not have that. The last window in the installation process is supposed to show what networks are available to connect to but it won't move on to that point without a Windows 98 installation CD. When I try and connect to the internet it says "Cannot find server" and I assume this means I'm not accessing the router/modem.

Anything that is shown in reference to internet is dial up connection and a phone number that they used, or the other choice is Local Area Network (LAN) setting there is no mention of ethernet. My other laptop is LAN so that is why I chose it on the Dell.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

W.r.t. a network connection LAN and ethernet are usually used interchangeably. I suppose it is asking for the OS disk because there must be something missing that's needed for the Wi-Fi, but that's just a guess.

I'm going to move your thread from Networking to Earlier Versions of Windows.


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## tt4853 (Jan 22, 2013)

Is the only way this will work is to get Windows98 SE and install it?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

I have no idea.


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