Unable to install network / ethernet drivers in XP

[Timbo]

Reposting from microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web as it seems they
couldn't help me. Maybe the wrong group. Here's hoping this is the right one
as I really need the help?

Hello Group,

A friend of mine called to say that he lost ADSL connectivity. I went to his
office and discovered that the drivers for his Realtek NIC were not working
properly (you know, yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager). I tried to
reinstall as well as going and getting the latest drivers. Still no joy.

Frustrated, I brought 2 other NICs (a 3com 905b-tx and an Amtek piece of
junk) over, still no go. All get the same result. XP sees them and
interprets the firmware correctly, but when I try to install the drivers, I
get the missing or corrupt file message. Now if this was one instance, ok,
could
be, but 3? Seems fishy? Interestly, I cannot uninstall the drivers either?

I even pulled out all the nonessential peripherials (everything but the
video card) to eliminate the competition for IRQs and still no go.

I've seen RAM do some funny things? Could this be a memory problem?

Please help! BTW, its an ASUS board, 1.7 Ghz CPU, 512 mb RAM and I *think* I
saw SP 1 go by on one of the many start ups.

Believe me when I tell you that I appreciate your input!! ~Tim.

 

[Maincat]

Reposting from microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web as it seems they
couldn't help me. Maybe the wrong group. Here's hoping this is the right
one
as I really need the help?

Hello Group,

A friend of mine called to say that he lost ADSL connectivity. I went to
his
office and discovered that the drivers for his Realtek NIC were not
working
properly (you know, yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager). I tried to
reinstall as well as going and getting the latest drivers. Still no joy.

Frustrated, I brought 2 other NICs (a 3com 905b-tx and an Amtek piece of
junk) over, still no go. All get the same result. XP sees them and
interprets the firmware correctly, but when I try to install the drivers,
I
get the missing or corrupt file message. Now if this was one instance, ok,
could
be, but 3? Seems fishy? Interestly, I cannot uninstall the drivers either?

I even pulled out all the nonessential peripherials (everything but the
video card) to eliminate the competition for IRQs and still no go.

I've seen RAM do some funny things? Could this be a memory problem?

Please help! BTW, its an ASUS board, 1.7 Ghz CPU, 512 mb RAM and I *think*
I
saw SP 1 go by on one of the many start ups.

Believe me when I tell you that I appreciate your input!! ~Tim.

Might be worth doing the following.
Turn off any anti-virus you have, then install the drivers. Remember to
enable the anti-virus again.
Reboot, and let pnp find the NIC.

 

[Timbo]

Thanks Maincat. I'll give it a try as I'm running out of ideas.

 

[John7]

Tim,


You might consider deleting the failing NIC in Hardware Manager and reboot.
The PC will re-detect the NIC, then provide the latest drivers.


HTH,
John7

 

[Timbo]

Thanks John for the reply. I can't remove / uninstall the old drivers. I did
force it to search for new hardware and it did identify the NIC as needing
help, but when I manually select the new drivers (or let it do it
automatically), it say the current driver is the best driver for the card.
Arg!!!

Interestingly, it does cite an "error 39" which my research found pertains
to a CDROM error . . .

 

[Brian A.]

Reposting from microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web as it seems they
couldn't help me. Maybe the wrong group. Here's hoping this is the right one
as I really need the help?

Hello Group,

A friend of mine called to say that he lost ADSL connectivity. I went to his
office and discovered that the drivers for his Realtek NIC were not working
properly (you know, yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager). I tried to
reinstall as well as going and getting the latest drivers. Still no joy.

Skip if you already have the latest driver from below, otherwise download/extract
to a folder:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...d=6&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Boot to Safe Mode > Device Manager.
Expand "Network Adapters" and remove Any/All devices listed.
Close out of DM and open either Explorer or MyComputer.
Expand to and delete the contents of:
C:\Documents and Settings\Friends Name folder\Local Settings\Temp
C:\Windows\Prefetch
C:\Windows\Temp
Close out and reboot.
Windows will redetect/reinstall the NIC drivers.
When completed reboot if required.
Once back in Windows open DM.
Right click on the NIC and click "Update Driver.." in the popup menu.
Select "No, not this time" > Next.
Select " Install from a list or specific location" > Next.
Select "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install" > next.
Click the "Have disk" button.
Click the "Browse" button and navigate to the directory/folder you extracted the
downloaded files to.
Open the WinXP folder and double click the Netrtlx.inf file.
Click Ok and follow the prompts to finish installing the updated driver.
When complete reboot if required.

Frustrated, I brought 2 other NICs (a 3com 905b-tx and an Amtek piece of
junk) over, still no go. All get the same result. XP sees them and
interprets the firmware correctly, but when I try to install the drivers, I
get the missing or corrupt file message. Now if this was one instance, ok,
could
be, but 3? Seems fishy? Interestly, I cannot uninstall the drivers either?

Did you update the 3Com drivers with the last updated drivers v5.4 from?
http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/result.jsp?selected=all&sort=effdt&sku=3C905B-TX&order=desc

There are 2 disks as a set.
When installing, the 3C905b-TX must be installed and connected before booting and
installing the drivers.
Follow the same procedure as outlined for the RealTek above.

I even pulled out all the nonessential peripherials (everything but the
video card) to eliminate the competition for IRQs and still no go.

I've seen RAM do some funny things? Could this be a memory problem?

Please help! BTW, its an ASUS board, 1.7 Ghz CPU, 512 mb RAM and I *think* I
saw SP 1 go by on one of the many start ups.

Believe me when I tell you that I appreciate your input!! ~Tim.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Timbo]

Thanks Brain.
I'll give it a try and I see what your instructions is trying to accomplish.
I do like the idea of clearing out the gunk and starting again. Thanks
again, Tim.

Ps, yes to your 3com question. I did get the "last" drivers for all these
cards, but admittedly support has stopped some time ago . . .