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Netgear WNDA3100 driver: No XP x64


L_Tiger

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I have Windows XP x64 installed on my pc and when I tried to installed the drivers for my new wireless network adapter but it simply won't accept my OS. Apparently NetGear thinks noone uses Windows XP 64-bits and none of their products seem to have x64 drivers for XP. Is there any other way to make it work? I was wondering if there existed some software that could emulate a 32-bit environment for incompatible drivers without having to install an entire OS.

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Apparently NetGear thinks noone uses Windows XP 64-bits and none of their products seem to have x64 drivers for XP.

You can't really blame them, Windows XP 64bit has always been an under-supported OS, and there are a number of reason why.

The first issue is that Windows XP 64bit isn't Windows XP at all, it's Windows Server 2003. Instead of doing major revisions to the Windows XP codebase, Microsoft build Windows XP 64bit on top of Windows Server 2003 since it already had a working 64bit variant. This means Windows XP 64bit doesn't even use the same kernel version as Windows XP 32bit, which can cause driver programmers some serious headaches.

This leads up to issue number two, a lot of licensed software sees Windows XP 64bit as Windows Server 2003 and refuses to install because their licensing conditions don't cover server operating systems. This is especially common with Antivirus software.

The biggest reason is that Microsoft did not require OEMs to produce drivers for both 32bit and 64bit versions of Windows XP in order to slap the "Designed for Windows XP" logo on the box.

When Microsoft created Windows Vista, they based both the 32bit and 64bit on the same codebase and kernel version, which helps resolve the first two issues. Microsoft now also requires all OEMs to produce drivers in both 32bit and 64bit flavors before they're allowed to put the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo on the box. This has lead to nearly all new devices supporting both 32bit and 64bit Vista.

In short, Windows XP 64bit is not a great choice of operating system. If you want to make the jump to 64bit, I recommend you use Windows Vista or Windows 7 for compatibility reasons.

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I am not going to change my entire operating system with everything already installed just for some device, I was just trying to make it work on my PC for shits and giggles testing. I suppose the only way to make it work would be on a 32-bit virtual box then. Anyway thanks for your answer!

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I suppose the only way to make it work would be on a 32-bit virtual box then.

That won't work as the OS inside the virtual machine won't have access to the adapter, unless virtual box offers this as a feature.

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  • 2 months later...

Go to this link for more help:

WNDA3100 64 Bit Support

Hi guys, my brother found a little work around to get wnda3100 working on 64bit computers, it works 100%! So all credit goes to Kevin H. If you post this on another forum, give Kevin H the credit! Thanks!

Make sure to install wnda3100 software first without driver!

Also, this is only been tested in windows 7 64bit! Please use at your own risk, we are not responsible for anything that goes wrong, but it 100% works!

In order to do this go into device manager, and find your wlan 2.0 usb that isn't recognized in your computer! Download the files that I'll give you and manually install them! Heres how:

1. Make sure wnda3100 is plugged in

2. Go to Device Manager

3. Download these files and unzip:

WNDA3100 Driver Install Files

The files are under wnda3100 folder!

4. Right Click wlan 2.0 usb device (Something like that)

5. Then click update driver

6. Then click browse my computer for driver software

7. Then click let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer

8. Choose "network adapters" for what type of device this is on the next screen

9. Then on the next screen, click have disk

10. Then click browse!

11. Go to the files you downloaded

12. Install this .inf file:

arusb_lh.inf

13. Click ok, then ok again

14. Then let the device driver install, then search for networks!

Your Done!

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  • 3 months later...

It Works! OMG, I got back from Best Buy (Worst Buy) an hour ago with my new Cisco wireless adapter, because my WNDA3100 wasn't recognized by Windows 7 64 bit. Well, the Cisco wasn't recognized either! So I found THIS forum and did what the dude said, and Blammo! My WNDA3100 works full speed with Windows 7 64 bit.

Thank you SO much. On my way back to Worst Buy to return the Cisco adapter.

Thanks again :D :D :D

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