Vista - Linksys USB wireless adapter no longer recognized by Vista

LONG STORY SHORT: WUSB54Gv4 is compatible with Vista and ran fine for many
months until this weekend. Device still works on XP, so I'm guessing it's not
broken. Device doesn't work on a different computer with Vista, so I'm
guessing I don't have two broken PCs -- leading me to believe there's a new
compatibility issue brought up by some recent Windows Update.
Any suggestions to get it fixed or should I just buy a really long cable and
throw it accross the hallway?

VERY LONG DESCRIPTION:
I've used a Linksys wireless adapter (WUSB54Gv4, Vista compatible with
proper driver) for about one year on a computer running Windows Vista. A
couple of weeks back it begin showing some bad signs -- I had to restart the
computer or deactivate/activate it through the device manager to get it to
work. Then it stopped working.

As the computer restarts, the power led lights up, but it goes off after a
few seconds. The same thing happens when I unplug it and plug it back, and
Vista cannot recognize the device.

Then I tested the device on an older computer, with Windows XP, and the
wireless internet worked with no issues. Which brings me to conclusion #1:
THE DEVICE WORKS FINE, THE COMPUTER IS THE ISSUE.

That computer is a HP I purchased last year with decent configuration (2Gb
RAM, dual core, the whole deal). It has 8 USB ports, and all of my other
devices (mouse, wacom tablet, nobreak, pendrive, camera) were running fine
too.

Still, I tested the wireless adapter at a different computer, this time with
Vista. It did not work. And that leads me to conclusion #2: THE COMPUTER IS
FINE, THE OS (VISTA) IS THE ISSUE.

I've contacted the Linksys online support people today and they asked me to
update the driver and stuff like that. Didn't work. According to them, the
issue is with Vista, and they can't do anything about it.

Since the WUSB45Gv4 was compatible with Vista -- Linksys has a proper driver
and it has worked properly for so many months -- I'm guessing a new windows
update has brought a compatibility issue.

SHOULD I...
1) Buy a new adapter? -- That feels like wasting my money, since my adapter
is not faulty. Not to mention I can't be sure if a new device (different
model/different brand/whatever) would work on Vista.
2) Restore my OS? -- All things considered (aka security issues), I hate to
leave my windows behind on updates. Not to mention I can't really guess which
one I have to revert.
3) Wait for Microsoft to fix it? -- How do I get them to notice the problem,
anyway?

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 07:34:00 -0700, Lhys
<Lhys@xxxxxx> wrote:
Short answer: System Restore to a date prior to when the problem
started.

"Nonny" <nonnymoose@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1k78441gu6mejre4k2ngfcejkprrq42vml@xxxxxxI was using the same adapter and it never did work properly. Some days it
worked fine, others I had to reinstall the drivers to get it to work again.
I replaced it with a DLink 2340 USB adapter and it has worked fine.

Thank you for answering.

It didn't work, but then I did some more testing with it and now I believe
IT'S NOT A VISTA ISSUE. It's apparently a faulty device that still runs on
USB 1.1., but gets turned off on USB 2.0.

I've read somewhere it might be an issue of sucking too much energy through
it and being turned off by the computer. I'll probably just buy a new device.


"Nonny" wrote: