This runs the program from Memory, and bypasses your hard drive completely.

DON'T INSTALL THE UBUNTU/KUBUNTU ON YOUR LAPTOP!! Just run in LiveCD mode. I suggest you download Kubuntu 14.04.1 or later from and create a bootable DVD or bootable USB drive per instructions on the Ubuntu website. Since your internal WLAN card doesn't seem to be working, and it WAS, you need to make a basic assessment as to whether or not it's working. Besides the screen and the hard drive, WLAN cards can often become 'bonked' by the drop especially onto a hard surface such as concrete or asphalt. Laptops are susceptible to many kinds of damage, especially drops. total or so.Īll of the other posts here are very helpful, but especially panthera's POST #4. If you haven't done this, you should try it-it's about 30 min. It may help to identify a failure in the internal Wifi WLAN card. Run through each of the diagnostics if your model has both or just the Basic PSA if that's all your Model has. You can also run either the PSA (Pre-boot Assessment) diagnostic or the Enhanced PSA (e-PSA) diagnostic that are built into your laptop using the F12 KEY to access them on bootup. Once in Windows use the F2 KEY to attempt to enable/disable your Wifi and check the LED as above. This is the same key used to access the BIOS on startup. NOTE: The F2 KEY is used to enable and disable your internal Wifi. Any other color or not on at all indicates a failure of that internal WLAN card as mentioned. Normally, on most Dell laptops, when the Wifi is on, enabled, connected, and working that light is White or Blue. We need to know what color that LED is? White, Blue, Amber, Yellow, Orange, or Red, or not on at all.

You will notice that in this diagram the Wifi LED is #14 on the front edge view of the Quick Start Guide page #1 for your model.

If you check the LED on the front edge of your laptop, as here: I did find a couple of things that may help you howerver. Many BIOSes do not contain a setting for enabling/disabling so if it's not there, you'll have to pursue other avenues discussed by others above. So, you'll have to just access the BIOS (using F2 key on bootup), and look through all the screens for DEVICES, or ADVANCED OPTIONS, or similar, for any mention of the WIFI or WIRELESS setting. I took the time to download the above document and all the other documents for your model (by the way the full Model is INSPIRON 15R 5520) and unfortunately, the BIOS screens for your model are not shown in the documentation. In response to your question about how to change the wifi setting in the BIOS (if there is one) here's the link to the Dell Owner's Manual in PDF that can help you:

Dell laptop wifi not working windows 10