SP3 breaks Wireless Connection Manager in IBM Thinkpads (Lenovo)

I knew SP3 was going to be a nightmare. I knew it was going to make more problems than it was going to solve. That is why I waited months to install this shameful 3rd package of bug fixes and security upgrades to patch Microsoft's poor quality Windows XP OS.

I finally decided to install SP3 and guess what? My Wi-fi card stopped working. Ha ha...

After much search around and digging quite deep I found this very useful post from a chap who had exactly the same problem: Problems with Wireless Adapter on Windows XP SP3. On a side note, the author has an IBM ThinkPad T43 while I have an IBM ThinkPad R50e but we both agree that IBM Lenovo laptops are wonderful machines and have never caused any trouble before.

Anyway, as it turns out, the solution is...

1. On your Desktop, right-click "My computer"
2. Click on "Manage"
3. Expand the tree node "Services and Applications"
4. Click on "Services"
   
5. Find the service "Extensible Authentication Protocol Service"
   
   
6. Right-click > Properties
7. Click on "Start" and...
   
8. Change "Startup type" to "Automatic"
   
   
9. Find the service "Network Access Protection Agent" and repeat steps 6, 7 and 8.

Et voila! Everything should work they way IBM intended it to before SP3 came along and screwed it up...

Related links:

• Windows XP SP3, What You Can Expect
• Windows Vista Security and Data Protection Improvements
• Problems with Wireless Adapter on Windows XP SP3