Installation of Windows XP Pro problems...

[Michelle P.]

My brother-in-law's computer "crashed" and I reformated the hard drive as
instructed. I then installed Windows XP Professional 2003 which is what he
had on there orignally. Now I have to install the right drivers. For
instance, a driver for the internet...how do I do this? And what other
drivers do I need? How do I get a driver for the internet when i can't get
on the internet without it? His IP provider was telling him that he needed
an internet driver before anything will work.

 

[LVTravel]

My brother-in-law's computer "crashed" and I reformated the hard drive as
instructed. I then installed Windows XP Professional 2003 which is what
he
had on there orignally. Now I have to install the right drivers. For
instance, a driver for the internet...how do I do this? And what other
drivers do I need? How do I get a driver for the internet when i can't
get
on the internet without it? His IP provider was telling him that he
needed
an internet driver before anything will work.

You brother-in-law should have had a setup disk with all the drivers
provided by the manufacturer. If you don't have that disk available you
will have to use another computer, go to the computer manufacturer's web
site, search for the drivers for the computer make and model and download
the: chipset, audio, video, network (wireless if equipped and wired
connector) keyboard (if a special keyboard is attached with more than the
standard buttons) and drivers for any other device that may be installed on
the computer.

If you can't find it easily, post back with the make and model of computer
(either on the front or back of a desktop or on the screen or underneath on
a laptop.)

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

My brother-in-law's computer "crashed" and I reformated the hard drive as
instructed. I then installed Windows XP Professional 2003 which is what
he
had on there orignally. Now I have to install the right drivers. For
instance, a driver for the internet...how do I do this? And what other
drivers do I need? How do I get a driver for the internet when i can't
get
on the internet without it? His IP provider was telling him that he
needed
an internet driver before anything will work.

The ISP is talking rubbish. You don't need an "Internet driver" but you do
need the following drivers:
- A driver for your network adapter
- A display driver
- A sound card driver

These days most PCs come with a factory restore facility. Check the
documentation to see how to invoke it. It it is not available for your PC
then it most likely came with a driver CD. Did you use it?

Note that many factory restore facility will destroy all user files
currently on the PC.

 

[db]

well, if you installed xp on the computer
then I would have tried to activate over
the internet connection it had.

most desktop pc's don't require specialty
drivers.

however, if there are specialty boards
installed on the motherboard, then
the drivers for them may be needed,

if windows cannot provide them via
the setup.

----------------

also, there is a question as to why the
computer crashed to begin with.

perhaps, the network card is failing and
it caused the system to become unstable,
which may have resulted in the reinstallation
of windows.

could the assessment above be a
possibility?


--
db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
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~ "share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[DL]

It sounds like you had bad advice in the first place
His IP provider obviously knows nothing

 

[HeyBub]

My brother-in-law's computer "crashed" and I reformated the hard
drive as instructed. I then installed Windows XP Professional 2003
which is what he had on there orignally. Now I have to install the
right drivers. For instance, a driver for the internet...how do I do
this? And what other drivers do I need? How do I get a driver for
the internet when i can't get on the internet without it? His IP
provider was telling him that he needed an internet driver before
anything will work. --

Why do you believe you "have to install the right drivers"? Do you have a
clue as to which ones are missing? For example, there are probably 5,000
network adapter drivers - do you know which one you need (if any)?

There is no such thing as an "internet driver." There's an "Internet
Driver's Training Course" but that's about it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My brother-in-law's computer "crashed"

Exactly what does "crashed" mean? What were the symptoms of the
problem he experienced?

and I reformated the hard drive as instructed.

Who instructed you to do that? Why? It's almost always a very bad
reaction to a problem, unless all other reasonable attempts at fixing
the problem have been made and failed.

Exactly how did you do this reformatting and reinstalling?

I then installed Windows XP Professional 2003

A minor point, but let me clarify that "2003" is not part of its name.
It's simply Windows XP Professional

which is what he
had on there orignally. Now I have to install the right drivers. For
instance, a driver for the internet.

No. A driver is a piece of software that is needed to interface with a
particular piece of hardware you have. For example, you typically need
a driver for your video card.

The internet is not a piece of hardware. There's no such thing as "a
driver for the internet." What makes you think there is, and that it's
missing?

..how do I do this? And what other
drivers do I need? How do I get a driver for the internet when i can't get
on the internet without it?

Have you tried to get on the internet? Exactly how did you try and
exactly what happened when you tried? If you got an error message,
please quote it verbatim.

His IP provider was telling him that he needed
an internet driver before anything will work.

Either the ISP doesn't at all know what he's talking about or, more
probably, you misunderstood what he said.