OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64
CPU: AMD 1090T (overclocked)
Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
I'm sure this topic has been posted many times but my situation seems to be unique in the sense that while running windows 7 home premium, the drivers for windows XP are functional but the windows 7 drivers themselves are not. I am currently using the windows XP drivers labeled as v1.7 from the D-link product website.
I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to networking but interestingly enough, when I investigate the matter further, I discovered that the windows XP drivers contain a driver file with the name athwx.sys (the w in athwx is not a typo). On the other hand, when i search the driver files within the Vista or Windows 7 files, they only contain athrx.sys (with a r but no w). I head up into device manager and see the properties of my network adapter, it tells me that the adapter is currently running off the athwx.sys driver (just the athwx.sys, nothing else). However, if i uninstall the XP driver and use the windows 7 file(athrx.sys), the network adapter has no connection at all (symbol in system tray looks like a computer with a plug beside it and a red x), it cannot even see any other networks, even though the properties is telling me that the adapter is functioning correctly. So far, I think the computer seems to only run if there is a athwx.sys file rather than a athrx.sys file. Removing the athwx.sys from drivers manually after the installation of XP drivers causes the adapter to stop functioning, even if athrx.sys is present.
Is there any way to make the computer use the athrx.sys file to actually get the windows 7 drivers working on windows 7?
Another matter which is somewhat related is the reliability of the connections using this adapter. Despite the fact that the windows XP drivers work, they are very unreliable, even if the connection has 4 out of 5 bars. Certain times when i'm playing online games, the connection would just randomly drop. Sometimes even light web browsing (I use Google Chrome) like watching a video on youtube causes the internet to drop. The time it bothers me the most is when I am downloading files from the internet, from time to time the connection can only hold about 1 or 2 max downloads using Chrome, any more such as 4 files downloading at once causes to connection to drop, especially if they are large files (while applies to torrents as well). I tried to troubleshoot by viewing the logs right after a drop, the funny thing is that in order to make it drop, i would just purposely open more than 8 tabs in chrome which just about guarantees a connection drop.
What is even more frustrating is that i am also using a D-link dir-655 (hardware version A3) as my router. My family (including myself) each have a laptop and we all can run the wireless seamlessly using the dir-655, making me believe that it is not the fault of the router. My laptop that also runs wireless n and can handle more than 10 tabs with ease in Chrome and rarely/never drops (basically rock stable). In addition, I previously used an old D-link network adapter (DWL-510) running wireless G that also worked perfectly fine, making me strongly believe that it is the DWA-552 that is at fault.
I apologize for the long summary of my situation but I am just very frustrated and disappointed at D-link for the fact that even their own products refuse to work together. I just do not understand how using a D-link router and a generic intel wireless adapter in my laptop works, yet a D-link router with a high-end D-link adapter does not.
Can anyone give me suggestions on how to fix this problem? or am I basically left with a defective product that does not work the way it is intended to?
EDIT: Looks like I solved the constant dropping issue by by reinstalling the XP drivers for the network adapter but i still cannot get the windows 7 drivers to work. Any ideas?
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Topic: Cannot get DWA-552 to run using Windows 7 Drivers (Read 6924 times)