Toshiba PA 38 battery for as low as $17 w/free shipping on e-bay. if was mine and wasn't really obsolete i would buy a battery and use a USB dongle for WiFi. I just bought a new battery for one of my HP laptops from e-bay and it works very nicely. I got a 12 cell for $26. Replacement battery prices for older laptops have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. I'm happy with the core 2 duo machine as a backup. I think I would go to control panel and remove WiFi adapter and reboot to reinstall drivers. It should auto detect the WiFi adapter and install drivers and detect the network if it is working properly.