Unable to install any PC cards

[Bea]

Toshiba Satellite Laptop
Windows 2000 (re-installed 4 days ago)
Unable to install any PC cards, wired or wireless

Device mgr. is unable to find .inf device drivers. For
3 different brands...
D-link
NetGear
Wireless

Tried the latest downloads from Mfr's websites-- doesn't
help.
(1)Is it a permission issue (administrator)
(2)Hardware issue?
Or something else---

Please help!...

 

[Guest]

If you installed your OS only 4 days ago then presumably you still know how to logon as Administrator

Your drivers are neither installed or found by device manager, that is not actually the case...

Either you've upgraded from 98' instead of doing a clean install... and left your old W98 drivers in place instead of first deleting them... or (if what you'ved said is actually the case) the new drivers you have are simply not designed for W2k... or your hardware is itself not compatible with Win2k...

Your post carries insufficient information for a diagnosis! However my best guess is that you've upgraded and left the old drivers in situ.

Find the items in question in device manager and identify and note down the actual location of the drivers they are currently using by looking under the driver details for each of the devices in question.

Reboot into safe mode and delete those drivers.

Reboot as normal and (cancelling the "Found New Hardware Wizard" if it opens) remove each device in question from Device Manager.

Reboot again as normal and use the "Found New Hardware Wizard" to install the latest drivers from the manufacturers - double check they are actually the W2k driver files!

That should get you going again.

I would never perform an upgrade operation from one OS to another, it is far far better to reformat the drive and start with a clean install.

Ivan