No device being detected

not getting internet access despite live connection

[Acternaweb]

I somehow am blocking the network card/device from being detected by my computer. The pc does not see my network/network card. Any help would be much appreciated.

I know the connection is valid because my laptop is able to access the web and netowrk.

greatly appreciate your help

[kaled]

What version of Windows?
What network card (and how old)?
What else is installed?
Does the card appear in the device manager (but disabled)?

Kaled.

[bill]

I would first suggest that you try out the Add/Remove Hardware wizard which can be found in the Control Panel of any version of Windows. If the wizard doesn't detect the card then it offers you the chance to manually install the drivers.

Since you didn't mention what version of Windows you're using on the different machines I might assume that you're using different versions. Newer versions of Windows do have better hardware support built-in than older versions, so it might just be a case where you need to manually install the drivers for a newer piece of hardware.

[Acternaweb]

What version of Windows? XP Home
What network card (and how old)? Have a dell 3000 dimension, brand new computer purchased in November

What else is installed? printer, few usb devices

Does the card appear in the device manager (but disabled)?
nope the device manager is blank

I was trying it use Photoshop, but it didnt' work so I ws told to use msconfig... after doing that I lost my interenet and network. I tried to set everything back to before playing around ubt to no avail

greatly appreciate your help

[bill]

If you had things working earlier and then changed something which broke the connection have you tried reverting to a previous restore point or backup?

[Acternaweb]

Yes on the msconfig app there is an option to restore to an earlier point, the problem is it says none are available.

Is there another way to restore?

[bill]

Are the System Restore Settings set to allow Windows to monitor any of the drives or have you turned that off? If you turned that off then you would need to look at other backup options you might have. A Drive Image of your OS partition would be one option, but you would have had to previously set up 3rd party software to use that.

If there are no System restore Points or other backup options available to you, you might want to attempt a Repair Install of Windows XP. This will refresh damaged or missing Windows files and should leave your installed programs intact. However, the normal caveats apply. Backup your system before attempting this.

[Acternaweb]

Bill

I didn't disable the restore function, but I also didn't turn it on. I tried to create a new network connection but to no avail. Even using the ISP's set up disk I get an error.

I tried doing a safe boot but still no success. I am not computer guru so hesitant to do anything with such warnings. What would block the connection from being made?

Thanks

[bill]

I would suggest turning on the System Restore to allow it to at least give you something to get back to. Then you can experiment a little.

Have you tried the Hardware wizard I suggested in msg#3? Are you able to install the network card from there?

[kaled]

Have you tried View¦Show Hidden Devices in Device Manager?

Kaled.

[Acternaweb]

I have made the devices show all, but still no avail.

I haven't been able to do the add hardware because when I select the icon nothing happens. I have tried both in regular and safe mode.

Tried running spy ware apps but they find nothing.

Any more help?

[bill]

It's very hard to say, but can you reverse the steps you took when you made these changes with msconfig when you were using it for Photoshop? What were the exact changes that you made?

You could go in and experiment with msconfig settings to see if that fixes things. I would strongly suggest you at least turn on the System Restore monitoring before doing so.

In many cases the Repair Install of Windows that I suggested above is a very safe option. XP will install on top of itself, replacing damaged, missing or altered system files. If nothing goes wrong your repaired XP installation will keep your personalized settings and installed programs as they originally were.

It's always a good idea to back up your data first though. As you've learned without a backup of some sort you don't have much recourse. XP's System Restore is helpful but I wouldn't rely on it completely. You should really look into purchasing and using a good drive imaging program like Ghost, BootIt NG, Acronis or one of the others. Even a semi-regular backup routine is better than none at all.

If the Repair Install doesn't work then you'll need to consider a full re-install which is a last resort.

[Acternaweb]

I bit the bullet and called Dell. Windows wasn't installed correctly so we had to reload the OS. I lost my files but now everything is in order.

I greatly appreciate your time and help in this.

[dcheney]

Sadly that is the most common response to even the most minor errors for most techs at computer companies: format & reinstall.

Yes, it works 99% of the time, but 98% of the time the problem could be fixed in a few minutes without destroying everything on the drive if the tech actually knew what they were doing.

[bill]

It really sounded like you hosed one of your .dll files, but instead of the full reinstall I wish you'd given the Repair Install a go. That would have saved you the hassle of having to reinstall everything.

Regardless, it's good that you got your machine back. Now make sure that System Restore is monitoring the partition with your OS and Program Files. Then you may have a fighting chance when this happens again. It wouldn't hurt to look into the backup options I listed earlier either.

[Acternaweb]

bill

thanks for the help and advice. I checked and the system restore seems to be working, however do I manually need to create a restore point as it states that it will.

Is there any harm in creating too many restore points?

Thanks again

[bill]

do I manually need to create a restore point as it states that it will.

Is there any harm in creating too many restore points?

From Windows help: Restore Points are created daily and at the time of significant system events (such as when an application or driver is installed). You can also create and name your own restore points at any time.

Depending upon how much space you allocate the system usually keeps about 3 weeks worth of restore points. There is a lot of good info in the Windows help file about this. Just search for the keywords "System Restore" and you'll get a lot of targeted articles.