Network card disabled

[Mattps]

Hello,

I keep getting a problem with a network card in Windows XP Professional.
About 5% of every startup the network card fails to load it's driver and
shows as a yellow exclamation mark in device manager.
Although the driver is installed on the system and saved locally, performing
an automatic install fails to locate the driver files. I have to manually
navigate to the folder. Then the driver installs and the network connection
restored.

The OS is XP Professional SP2. I have downloaded the latest network driver
form HP, reisntalled SP2, installated all available XP updates, installed the
latest BIOS and chipset software, removed and reseated the system board and
all connectors.

Nothing is reported regarding the cause in the event viewer.

But it still happens. Any ideas?

 

[DL]

Is this an onboard nic or is it a nic card?

Did the problem occur after an update, either an MS one or from HP?

 

[Mattps]

The NIC is onboard. No updates where installed or approved around the time
that this started.

 

[Malke]

The NIC is onboard. No updates where installed or approved around the time
that this started.

If this is a desktop machine, disable the onboard card and install a
known-working PCI NIC. What are the results?

Malke

 

[Mattps]

Thanks Malke,

But this is a laptop - Compaq 6820s.

Matt

 

[Gerry]

Matt

What is the Device Error code when it is not working?

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Have you made any recent changes to Service Start Up types?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Tim Quan [MSFT]]

Hello,

Please uninstall the network card driver from Device Management. Then
download and install the latest network card driver from the following site:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&c
c=us&prodNameId=3442857&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=3442856&swLang=8&task
Id=135&swEnvOID=1093#11395

In addition, let's perform a Clean Boot to reduce software conflictions:

Clean boot
=================
Let's disable all startup items and third party services when booting. This
method will help us determine if this issue is caused by a loading program
or service. Please perform the following steps:

1. Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the
Start Search box, and then press Enter.

Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC)
window.

2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box
and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray).
3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK".

Then, restart the computer. When the "System Configuration Utility" window
appears, please check the "Don't show this message or launch the System
Configuration Utility when Windows starts" box and click OK.

Please test this issue in the Clean Boot environment, if the issue
disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to
quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue.

If the issue persists, I would like to confirm when the issue began to
occur. Have any changes been made on the computer recently?

Sincerely,
Tim Quan
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif
ications.

With newsgroups, MSDN subscribers enjoy unlimited, free support as opposed
to the limited number of phone-based technical support incidents. Complex
issues or server-down situations are not recommended for the newsgroups.
Issues of this nature are best handled working with a Microsoft Support
Engineer using one of your phone-based incidents.
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Mattps]

Thanks Tim,

That is the driver that I am using. I have recently uninstalled and
reinstalled this from the HP website, so that a fresh copy was used in the
installation.

I will try a clean boot, as described and post the results.
The problem started to occur about 2 months ago. However, the laptop wasn't
used for about 6 months before that.

Regards,
Matt

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thanks Malke,

But this is a laptop - Compaq 6820s.

It's not unknown for network adapters to fail. When this happens on a
laptop, you can use a PCMCIA or ExpressPC card adapter.

HTH
-pk

 

[Mattps]

Patrick,

You are correct, it is not unknown that laptop NIC cards can fail. I have,
however executed a hardware inspection using the HP ISEE website and the NIC
passed.

Matt

 

[Robert Wolfe]

It's not unknown for network adapters to fail. When this happens on a
laptop, you can use a PCMCIA or ExpressPC card adapter.

You could also use a wireless USB adaptor as well.

 

[Tim Quan [MSFT]]

Hi Matt,

How are things going? We have not heard back from you in a few days and
wanted to check on the status of the issue. Please let us know how things
turned out.

Tim Quan - MSFT

 

[Mattps]

Tim,

Sorry for not getting back - the issue has only just re-occured. I checked
and the error code in Device Manager was:

Error code 10 - could not start device

I rebooted the laptop and it was back to normal.
I have checked the event logs and nothing is reported.

Matt

 

[Gerry]

Matt

Code 10

If the device has a FailReasonString value in its hardware key, that string
is displayed as the error message. The driver or enumerator puts this
registry string value there. If there is no FailReasonString in the hardware
key, you receive the following error message:
This device cannot start. (Code 10)
Recommended resolutions

Here are some things that you can try to resolve this problem.

Update the driver

In the device Properties dialog box, click the Driver tab, and then click
Update Driver to start the Hardware Update Wizard. Follow the instructions
to update the driver.

You may be prompted to provide the path of the driver. Windows may have the
driver built-in, or may still have the driver files installed from the last
time that you set up the device. If you are asked for the driver and you do
not have it, you can try to download the latest driver from the hardware
vendor's Web site.
Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123

Remember it is better to go to the third party web website for a driver and
not take what Microsoft offers.

Also read
Description of Code 10-related errors that Device Manager generates on
Windows XP-based computers
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943104/en-us

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim,

Sorry for not getting back - the issue has only just re-occured. I checked
and the error code in Device Manager was:

Error code 10 - could not start device

I rebooted the laptop and it was back to normal.
I have checked the event logs and nothing is reported.

Matt

Hi Matt,

How are things going? We have not heard back from you in a few days and
wanted to check on the status of the issue. Please let us know how things
turned out.

Tim Quan - MSFT

 

[Tim Quan [MSFT]]

Hi Matt,

You can also install Windows XP Service Pack 3 to check the result. Windows
XP Service Pack 3 fixes a lot of known issues and you can download it from
the following site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=5b33
b5a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4

Please let me know the result.

Tim Quan - MSFT