Solved Is it possible to install W8.1 as a trial.

[Mooly]

Was it connected to the Internet via a LAN cable? I never thought to suggest doing it, but it might have been the easiest way to get a driver for the WIFI adapter. Windows could have then looked online for a driver. Anyway it sounds like you have it working now and that's the main thing. :thumb:

No it wasn't. I have no explanation as to why it suddenly appeared to work, nothing logical and repeatable anyway. It seems fine though. The driver it installed is dated 2007 but it works.

What is the make and model of your computer? If self built, what specific NIC do you have?

Its an 8 year old Acer 9301 that originally came with XP installed but had the free upgrade to Vista offer. AMD64 Turion, 120gb HDD and 2Gb RAM.

I'm very impressed with the speed W8.1 boots. The desktop, all loaded and ready to go appears in around 45 seconds from a cold boot.


Well I guess we mark this one as solved. Thanks to all that helped and offered suggestions and advice.