Oops!

[Muse]

This morning my T60 wouldn't connect to my wireless network. I tried all kinds of things including reboots and uninstalling the wireless adapter. I found that I couldn't restart Windows and went in in Safe Mode. I figured something was screwy in Windows and I did a Restore from Rescue and Recovery, and it was back to a version that is missing a lot of features, including my AV.

Something finally alerted me to the fact that the switch on the front that turns off the wireless adapter had somehow been slid to the off position. I should have thought of that because it happened to me once before. Now I'm busy uninstalling the original Symantec stuff, reconfiguring, installing utilities and Windows Update wants to install over 70 updates. I wish there'd been something to alert me to the fact that the switch was in the off position but I found nothing until it was way too late.

[Harryc]

FN-F5 will tell you if the wireless radio is on or off.

[Nigellus]

Hey, man, if people didn't make mistakes, we wouldn't learn.

I've had my share of oopsies like that.

[Muse]

Hey, man, if people didn't make mistakes, we wouldn't learn.

I've had my share of oopsies like that.

What bothers me the most is that it happened to me once before and I didn't remember until .... I hope I remember next time. I really should have hesitated before doing a restore. I've never restored any of my Thinkpads before but I just dove in relatively unconcerned. Of course, I opted to save all my applications and data but still... I had to update dozens of things including AV and Superantispyware and I suspect there's a bunch of stuff yet to do. It would be so much better to do as Harryc said and just check with Fn+F5 or even glance at the switch!

[SaberX]

Not long ago with my Acer One netbook running Win Starter.I hit a Fn+(i think F5) button that turned off the touchpad and buttons.It turns off for when your typing.
I was a few days trying diffrent things,diffrent drivers,restore windows ,ect.Even got a warrenty box come from Acer to send it in as i thought it was broke.
In the end all i had to do was hit Fn+Fx key.

[Nigellus]

Back when I first got my 600E, I wasn't familiar with all the new ThinkPad features. With the Fn + page down key, I managed to mute my volume without even realizing it.

I honestly thought the hardware was broken because no software sound solution worked (not that I knew much, if any actual solution to try... I was still fairly computer illiterate at that point; I really learned computers from my 600E).

Fortunately, one of the tech support guys at my school was very familiar with the 600E and showed me what I had done.

[Harryc]

Homework assignment - http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 54305.html