Microsoft → WIN 7 Wireless

My friend brought me his daughter's Inspiron 14z whose wireless (WiFi) had stopped working.... Here is what I've found. Can anyone enlighten me as to what I should do to resolve this? I'm assuming the radio is fine bc WiMAX comes up.

The O/S is Win 7 Pro

Device Manager shows Intel Centrino WiMax 6250 listed under "Intel(R) Centrino(R) WiMAX Adapters, and under Network Adapters. Neither are marked with a red x nor yellow exclamation point. They are both the normal black plus sign.

Properties, General, Device Status of the above shows "The device is working properly".

F2 shows pictures indicating radio on or off (toggle).

Start, All Programs, Intel PROSet Wireless, Intel, My WiFi Technology shows "Network Adapter Not Found".

Using Intel's PROSet Wireless Tools Manual Diagnostics Tool, the hardware test fails.

Using Intel's WiMAX Connection Utility, when WiMAX is on, 4 signals are found (ie. CLEAR, SPRINT, Comcast, TimeWarner Cable 4g). Using the same utility, turning off WiMAX, and going to Options, shows a grayed out "Turn Wifi On".

Network sharing center of course cannot create a connection.

What am I missing?

Thanks for your assistance.

Is the WiFi switch off? There may be a on/off switch on the side or Fn>F key sequence. If this does not fix it my guess would be bad WiFi card.

+1 I had a similar problem troubleshooting a friend's laptop wireless. It turned out the wifi button on the side of the computer had been accidentally turned off. It was crazy because it had a hot button to activate the wifi but unless you turned on the switch it didn't work.

I poured through the manual and it mentioned a wifi button but did not show where it was on the computer. I finally used a flash light and slowly inspected the sides of the laptop and found the button. I felt like an idiot...it took me three hours to figure it out!

The 2 suggestions offered by the previous poster's is probably a good place to start. WiMAX and WiFi are 2 completely different systems and use different radios. Just because one is working doesn't mean the other one is. Can you even see an adapter for the WiFi under network adapters? It's possible that somehow the device got uninstalled and have to be reinstalled in order to function properly.