Vista - wireless will not work with any adapter

I have a compaq presario desktop that I am trying to connect to a dlink wireless system. I have tried trendnet, linksys, and now Dlink usb wireless adapters but none will connect. They show up in the device manager as fine and dandy but will not enable. I am now trying the dlink WUA 1340 and downloaded the drivers from the dlink website.
I have also did a netsh wlan show settings and it says the autoconfig is disabled. Not sure if it should be enabled and have yet to find out how to enable it on this desktop. I have already tried the to do set autoconfig enabled=yes interface="?" as per technet instructions but just says wlansvc is not running. I am very frustrated and have had to drag the dlink router and dsl to telus to my computer so I can hook up by ethernet.
I have ran the gammut on this as I have even went through all the usb plugs and all are working and detect the wireless device. I have removed everything a few times and reinstalled without the dlink software etc. etc. etc.
I am not sure but I think the wlansvc not running may be an issue????
Thanks for any suggestions.
Sandy

Hi, iataleph, and welcome to the forums.

Have you disabled the wlansvc?

Yes it is disabled. I contacted dlink support last night. They said to contact hp compaq support to see what is wrong with the machine. She said that the adapter was loaded fine and has right drivers??

I contacted both Dlink and Compaq support. Both were fruitless. I was told that if the device was in the device manager and no questions marks on it then it is the hardwares problem (Dlink support said), called compaq support and got the same answer but said was Dlink problem. Neither helped much. I do know now that the drivers are correct. but the wireless adapter will not enable in vista. I have screenshot the network connections page but not sure how to attach.
It shows as functioning in device manager, disabled in network connections manager and when we right click to enable says it is enabling but never does it.
this is the 3rd adapter on this vista machine with the exact same problem. compaq support did not seem to think that was suspect at all so now my last resort is the culprit is vista. I am starting to see how Mac is able to make those commercials!!!!!

the wlansvc service needs to be *enabled* not disabled. Hence your issues, perhaps?

I am not sure how to do that. I thought I found a way to enable it but it would not do it via net start in command prompt. please can you advise how to do it.

You need to verify if it is running or not via Services.msc - click start, type in service, and Services.msc should show up.

Find the wlansvc (near the bottom) and make sure it is 1) set to automatically load, and 2) actually running (start it if is not running).

I have looked for this service and it is not there. I have checked this a few times previously and the only service I have is the wired autoconfig which I started. did not help but is the only service on this computer that says wired or wireless autoconfig.
file:///C:/Users/sandra/Desktop/wireless%20disabled.htm
see if this file with screenshots will open. I don't have a webpage but saved screenshots to .doc and then resaved as html.
worth a try, if you can tell me how to send screenshots otherwise then let me know.

Thank you for your help. I was able to get a worthwhile help technician at HP and send them screenshots to show them that the wlansvc was not functioning at all. Had to do a complete system restore to factory settings and now the dlink adapter works like a charm. I did not have great luck with the vista backup program. lost all my emails in my inbox in outlook but I took precautions and put necessary items on a small usb key to ensure I don't lose the most important stuff. Good thing as the backup hung up three times and never worked.