Failed to install any NIC on a Win2K laptop

M

Mahesh Motiramani

Hi,

I'm unable to install any NIC in the IBM TP t20 machine.
The "new h/w found wizard" tries to install the driver,
but at the end it displays a message " An error occured
during installation of the device. The system cannot find
the file specified".
I have tried 3 different cards (a 3com 10/100 that is
inbuilt into the machine) and 2 other PCMCIA NIC cards
(3com and Intel).
The 2 PCMCIA cards get installed OK in another T20
machine.

A little history that might help:
My original 3com 10/100 NIC (in-built) was fully
functional (I get IP via DHCP). A few days ago, I had to
hard-set an IP on my machine to connect to a non-DHCP
network. When I looked into the properties of the LAN
connection, the "Internet TCP/IP" item had disappeared.
In the properties window, I tried to install new
protocol,service,etc as well as remove service,etc., but
every time I got the message "The system cannot find the
specified file". I then un-installed the NIC card, never
to get it installed again :)

I have already tried the following options:
1) Re-install the service pack 1/2/3 in a hope that if
any system file is missing it will be re-installed.
2) Ran sfc , but that did not find any problems
3) One of the IT folks in my office also ran
the "Upgrade/repair" from the original Win2K OS
installation CD (not in my presence) but that did not
resolve the issue either.
4) Tried installing a USB based Cable modem (which
functions as NIC eventually allowing access to the
Internet) but I got the same result.

It seems that the drive installation is Ok up until the
point where the h/w install wants to update one of the
Win2K system files that is either corrupt or damaged or
unreadable. It does not look like that any of the driver
files are missing, because the same CDROM (containing)
drivers is able to install the drives successfully on
other machines. Also, the fact that at the early stages
of the problem, I was unable to install/un-install any
protocols/services,etc in the machine (from LAN
connection properties), I think some system file is
missing or corrupt.

(BTW, I cannot connect to the ISP or RAs server using
dial-up service, since no network protocol is configured
in the system)

I tried to change some settings (change IP, add
protocol,delete service) in ANOTHER T20 machine, and I
saw that these steps are touching the files in
c:\winnt\system32\config folder (system.dat & .alt,
software.dat & .alt).
I am inclined to replace these files from another T20
machine (we have a standard h/w and s/w configuration on
the machines in the office).


Please help!!!

Thanks,

Mahesh
 
R

Ron Gabaree

Hi Mahesh....

I would remove all networking services from the laptop....reinstall the
networking and the reapply the service packs. It indeed sounds as though a
file is missing...however...copying files from another laptop could cause
more headaches than good.

My .02

Ron
 

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