BSOD from my wireless adapter?

Question

I have a Belkin Wireless G USB Adapter f5d8053 (I think that's the model number)

70% of the time I get a BSOD when trying to watch a video.

100% of the time I get a BSOD from trying to download ANYTHING.

45% of the time I get a BSOD from browsing the web.

Everythings fine If I'm connected through an ethernet, but that's impossible for where I am located.

It wasn't doing this all the time, it started 1-4 months after I had my computer.

If you have any troubleshooting tips or a fix, or need more info, just please ask.

Thank you!

Answer 1

The drivers for your wireless adapter are buggy. Because hardware drivers are hooked into the kernel, any bugs causing the drivers to crash will bring down the whole system with it.

The BSOD is the error screen that shows when the system crashes.

You experience no problems when using Ethernet, because the wireless adapter (and it's driver) is not being used.

Score an updated version of the driver from Belkin's support website.

http://www.belkin.com/support/

Answer 2

thats a driver issue.  first, download the latest version of the driver (fresh version, even if you have it already and youll probably have to do it on another computer then burn to cd or move with a thumb drive).  Now google ccleaner and download the latest version of that (think its 2.09 atm).  Now uninstall the existing driver (may have to reboot).  Now run ccleaner and run a standard scan, delete files.  Install fresh copy of the drivers.

If you continue to experience a blue screen (sometimes computer freezes rather than blue screen, varies from system to system), your next option may be to use another version of the driver (from a different manufacturer using same chipset as the usb wifi adapter you have).  Your predicament sounds very similar to one I experience on a few networks for work...and it was due to an atheros chipset error.

You can download a program called everest (made by lavalys) which will identify the usb wifi adapter you are using and in most cases tell you the chipset for it.  Once you find that out (say its an atheros 5001x+ just for arguments same) you can find drivers from other manufacturers that made wireless devices based on that same chipset (500x1+ in this example) and see if those work without a blue screen.

Good luck, PM me or visit site if any further questions.