Wi Fi login problem

When I boot up my laptop and connect to a wifi it all works like is should with no problems - the first time. If I disconnect from the network and go to the system tray and click the network icon and select "connect to a network" to go to a different network I do not see the usual list of available wireless networks. This portion of the screen is grayed out and it says "window can not find any networks" even though I know there are about a dozen or so networks in range. I have to reboot my laptop to see the available networks again. I have AVG antivirus as well as the payware full time protection version of Malwarebytes anti-malware and they both scan my computer daily but find nothing. I have tried running cmd.exe and at the command prompt I type "ipconfig/release" then "ipconfig/renew" but I still do not see the list of networks. I have to reboot every time I want to change networks.

Any ideas on how to fix this? I am running Vista 32 bit on my laptop.

As a temporary workaround, you could try disabling and then enabling the wireless adapter.

You ought to also look for the most recent drivers for your wireless adapter.

Right-click "Computer" and click "Manage"
choose the Device Manager on the left pane of the window
Expand Network Adapters on the right pane of the window
right-click your network adapter and click disable.
right-click your network adapter and click enable.

Also, you can right-click the network adapter and click properties to open up its properties. Then, if you choose the driver tab at the top of the properties window, it will tell you what version the driver is. You can then go to the laptop manufacturer's site and see if they have a newer version, or go to the adapter's manufacturer's site and see if they have a newer version.

Not sure about Vista, but there is a "repair connection" option available from the networks tab on XP. It basically deletes and rebuilds the network adapter.

Dan