Remove Old Wireless Profile

You travel to hotels, stay at RV parks, go to meetings, visit families, etc. and use their Wi-Fi networks to do your Internet stuff. Many places require users to enter an encryption key to access their Wi-Fi to get on to the Internet. This is cool.

When you re-visit a previous Wi-Fi site, you cannot connect to that same Wi-Fi network. You can see the same wireless signal showing on your laptop but failed to connect as you were able when you were there. This is not cool but this does happen. Site owners and managers generally change the wireless encryption key to assure authorized access to their Wi-Fi. Many times, the encryption key gets passed on to unauthorized and unwanted users. You can image the effect here. Ok, so, you get the new encryption key and still cannot get connected. No matter how many times you have tried, you continue to fail. Now you are stumped and frustrated.

As the encryption key gets routinely changed, the user may need to remove that wireless networks profile that no longer work. This is common. You verified your typing and perhaps rebooted your laptop. You tied again and no resolve. The user will need to remove that previous used wireless network profile containing the old encryption key and act like you have never been to that Wi-Fi network.

Below are the steps to remove the wireless profile for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Mac OS X. Once done, then you should be able to get back on to the wireless network with the new encryption key and use the Internet.

For Windows 7

  1. Open the Start menu and click "Control Panel."

  2. Type "wireless" in the Search Control Panel box in the upper-right corner of the Control Panel window. 

  3. Click "Manage wireless networks" in the list of search results that appears in the Control Panel program window to open the Manage Wireless Networks window.

  4. Scroll through the list of available wireless networks until you find the one you want to delete. Click that network to highlight it.

  5. Click "Remove" just above the list of available wireless networks to remove that specific network from your list of available networks.

  6. Click "OK" to save your changes.

  7. Exit out of the Control Panel.

  8. You should be able to connect now.

For Windows 8.1

  1. Open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows + R button. Type in ncpa.cpl then click Enter to open the Network Connections window. You could also open the Network Connections window by going to Control Panel -> View network status and tasks and choose Change adapter settingsfrom the sidebar.

  2. In the Network Connections window, right-click your WiFi network and choose Status.

  3. The WiFi Status window opens. Click on Wireless Properties.

  4. In the Wireless Network Properties window, click on the Security tab. Enter your new password in the Network security key section and click Ok. Your password has now been changed.

For Mac OS X

  1. Click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your computer's home screen, then click "System Preferences" to open the System Preferences window.

  2. Select "Network."

  3. Click the "Network" icon beneath Internet & Wireless.

  4. Select "Airport" on the left side of the Network window and then click "Advanced" along the bottom of the window. The list of your preferred available wireless networks appears under Preferred Networks.

  5. Select the wireless network you want to delete and then click "-" to delete that specific network.

  6. Click "OK" and then click "Apply" to save your changes and close the System Preferences window.

  7. Click "Applications" on your Mac's home screen to open the Applications program window.

  8. Click "Utilities" to open that window.

  9. Click "Keychain Access" and then enter the password that you set up for this functionality.

  10. Select your wireless network, click "Remove" and then click "OK" when prompted to verify that you want to delete this network. Restart your computer to finalize removing the network. You'll want to add the wireless network manually to access it again.