Network hogs CPU in XP

[DaveAK]

I put a network card in an old crap computer for a friend, that someone had shoehorned XP Pro SP1 onto, so that they could connect to the Internet through a Linksys router.

The PC is an old AMD-K6 with 128MB, the card is a Netgear FA311, but XP saw it as an FA312 and installed drivers for it.

OK, here's the problem. With the network cable attached the system grinds to a halt, doesn't crash, just goes so slow that you have to wait a few minutes for anything to happen, then wait again for the next brief let up in resources. Unplug the cabel and all runs fine.

I booted into safe mode with networking support and all runs fine, including browsing the web. So I went into msconfig and disabled all Start Up programs, (Zone Alarm, ant-virus, etc.). Still the same problem when running in normal mode.

Question. Does Safe Mode run different network drivers than Normal Mode?

I have also set the IP configurations manually so that it's not using DHCP, and I have tried it on my own network. Still OK in Safe Mode, a resource hog in Normal Mode.

Any ideas?

 

[DaveAK]

So here's my latest attempts at this. I installed the latest drivers from Netgear, that aren't digitally signed, and show the card as a FA311/312. This certainly improved things, in that instead of long periods of deadness with brief periods of life, now it's up and down like a yo-yo. So still unusable. Unless you're in safe mode when it works fine.

Currently I'm going through enabling and disabling services that show up differently between safe and normal mode. No luck yet in finding the key. Is it worth trying to get SP2 on there?

 

[peahouse05]

Hello DaveAK,
I am a beginner so this might not help. I have networked an AMD k6 pc via an asdl router/4 port switch. It has xp home edition and shares an Internet connection with a laptop. Does your pc have an on-board network card?
Regards
peahouse05

 

[DaveAK]

Hello DaveAK,
I am a beginner so this might not help. I have networked an AMD k6 pc via an asdl router/4 port switch. It has xp home edition and shares an Internet connection with a laptop. Does your pc have an on-board network card?
Regards
peahouse05

Nope, no onboard NIC, just the Netgear card I installed.

I'm applying SP2 at the moment and will see if that helps any.

I'd really like to know what the big difference between safe mode and normal mode is with regard to the network. That's the key I think.