Possibly another driver missing than the LAN card driver? Depending on what you guys did to fix the issue. Get the service tag off that Dell, go to their website, make sure it's the right LAN driver, maybe even grab the Chipset driver as well. Worth a shot. I've also found something like this to be very handy. USB, can install easily and can become a temporary network card allowing you to get online till you solve the issue.
Ok, I downloaded everything on this site, which was 11 total. And it did remove a few of the question marks. However, two were still there. Cannot find ethernet controller Cannot find multimedia audio controller This is ridiculous.
This might be a stupid question, but have you checked your bios to make sure your ethernet/onboard audio are enabled? To do this just use whatever key when you restart to go into your bios to check this.
Sometimes, yes. Just after power-up, hit the key that gets you into your bios (It will probably be F10, F12, or DEL) Once you're in your bios, look around in the the bios menus for something like "integrated devices." You should see something for "AUDIO" and something for "NIC" or "LAN". If they're disabled, enable them. Then move through the menus for a "save and exit"
Is your internet working? Can you tell me your Dell Dimension model so I know what Network card that it's using?
2H4ZG61 is the specific model # for my computer. I tried Droxford's suggestion in BIOS, but both NIC and Audio said they were "on." so that's a no go.
If I'm not mistaken, a $10 new ethernet card will solve the problem, as I orginally posted. Or go for a wireless USB adapter if you have a wireless router.
I don't know if it's too late to install the Intel Chipset Software Utility but that should've been install after installing the OS. If your internet still isn't working. Take the driver file Intel (R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection and extract the file R78727.EXE. Go into the Folder R78727\WinXP and extract set.exe and it will create an SETUP folder. In that folder is an INF file that you will use to install your network card manually. So what's next is to go into your device manager and rightclick on the ethernet Controller and browse for the folder R78727\WinXP\Setup and select that file or just the folder and let it search for an INF file or you select the e100b325.inf file.
Yeah, NIC's are really cheap. They're also really unreliable. It's like that with routers, too. Typically, I get really expensive high-end ones to avoid the typical failures of the cheaper ones ($200 router is much more reliable than a $50 one, just like a $80 NIC is more reliable than a $10 NIC or on-board). You know what else is unreliable? Ethernet cables. I've probably had 15 die on me. A simple replacing of it does the trick. I haven't really read through the thread though, so maybe you've identified whether it's the cable, NIC, or software.
Alright! I'm back online again. Now I need to find a place to install a multimedia audio controller. I'm gonna google for it.
