Help for a hardware noob!!??

[sqlgrl]

Hi All,

I'm hoping there is someone that can help me because I'm not sure what to do next. I had to reinstall the windows XP on a friends PC. After reinstalling the OS, in the hardware device manager there is no Network Adapter listed. The motherboard is a MSI (MS 7260 ver 2.0) with an onboard NIC. When I plug in the ethernet cable, light flashes, etc. .. but I'm assuming it's simply getting power. I have put a wireless USB network adapter on it - gone to MSIs site to try and download the latest drivers using the auto update feature, etc., for this motherboard (incase it's simply a driver issue) but the download fails over and over again. In the manual process, there is not a NIC driver listed, only audio and video, which makes me think i'm barking up the wrong tree in the first place!!

Is there a way for me to know for certain that the on board NIC is simply bad and I'll need to get a PCI or PCIe card .. or should I just give it up and do that anyway?

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

Bethany Holliday
sqlgrl@yahoo.com

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

Hi, and WELCOME TO TECHIMO - from the Folding@Home Team [#111]...!

I would be interested to see what your Device Manager (in ComputerManagement) listed as being "Unknown devices" as it sounds like the NIC doesn't have a driver installed.

If it lists the NIC there, then (while you've got the computer online with the USB dongle) you should be able to right-click it and select Update Driver.

Let us know how you get on, but in the meantime I'm going back to bed...as I'm not feeling very well...

[sqlgrl]

I was so close! I just had the wrong driver! Once I started looking closer at the manual I realized my problem. Thanks so much for the response!
Bethany

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

No worries, glad to have helped...

Stick around, maybe join in on the Folding, you never know - you might like it...

[DoubleK]

Motherboard manufacturer websites are notoriously horrible! I have given up at Asus.

If it is an oem pc go to that site. Dell and HP both have good sites. Glad you found your driver! Those auto detect tools are horrible! Beware