Told a friend I'd fix their wireless issue after the manufacturer quoted them $1k for a simple wireless fix. Turns out that's not actually (that) crazy (if you consider how overpriced their parts are). This laptop, a compaq presario v6133 (from the v6000 line) has the nice 'feature' of a non-working fan sensor / regulator.

The good is that it runs nice & quiet... the bad is that it'll just burn itself out. Guess what part of the mobo dies first? Nope, not the CPU, not the RAM, and not even the northbridge -- it's the good old onboard WIFI adapter.

What might actually save this laptop is an addendum to the (expired) 1 year warranty, declaring free fix & free shipping for this issue as long as it's w/in 2 years. It's declared as an "HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement".

Otherwise, it's a BIOS update (to fix the fan control, not the damage already caused), and an external card -- or an ebay of the MOBO.

It's pretty sad, actually -- it's rare that someone drops off their PC that's fully virus and malware protected, with proper restore points & generally in perfect working order.