No Ethernet or Network Connection

[sobeit]

Hey people,
I have a problem which is confusing to me. All I did was restore a Dell Desktop computer with the restore disk (Set of 3), and when that was finished I now have no Internet Connection and the Ethernet in Device Manager has the big yellow question mark next to it. Please help me with suggestions on getting the Internet Connection and the Ethernet back.

Thanks,

[MrAl]

Hi there,


The ethernet card should have installed but it sounds like it actually did not install.

If you can find the manufacturer of the card you can look on their web site to try to
get the driver and then try installing it. If you dont know, then you might try:
http://halfdone.com/
however i must note that i have never tried that program (yet) so i dont know how
good it works.

LATER:
Ok tried the program, it seems to work pretty well. You have to make sure the .zip
file that comes zipped with the main .exe program is in the same directory as the
.exe program (as a zip file, not unzipped) because the program reads that zip
file. So you would unzip the main file, then put the two files (one .exe and one .zip)
into a directory and then run the .exe program. The name of your card/adapter should
appear on the list.



If all else fails, buy another ethernet card and that will come with software.

[sobeit]

Hello MrAl,
The computer has the Ethernet card but when I reinstalling the computer I also put a new CD-Rom in. (The old one wasn't working anymore), and there were viruses in the C:/ drive, so I had to get rid of the old data and restore the system. But now I have no internet, and in the Device Manager there is a yellow question mark next to the Ethernet and there is no Network Adapter listed in the Device Manager file. Where did my Network Adapter go? And how can I get it back? Remember I cannot get into the internet,I'm on now from work.

Thanks for any input, more input is gratefully appreciated.

[MrAl]

Hi again,

It sounds to me simply that the driver did not get installed. You have to get onto the internet
somehow to download the software or else you would have to get a new card and work with
that instead. Sorry, i dont know what else to tell you except you can look on the system
and see if there is a directory for the driver or somehow find the driver as it may be there
somewhere just not installed.
Once the driver is installed that yellow sign will go away and the ethernet will come back.

[sobeit]

Hi MrAl,
Thanks, I'll look into it, I know it's in there somewhere.
Thanks again.

[sofaspud]

Friendly advice...
First you said, "All I did was restore a Dell Desktop computer with the restore disk"
Then you said, "I also put a new CD-Rom in..., and there were viruses in the C:/ drive"
Please 'help the helpers' by refraining from such tactics. To be frank, and I often am, I almost chose not to post to this thread
just for that reason. But I'm a nice guy so...

It's possible that you have the driver you seem to need, but your computer failed to find it. Go to Control Panel/Device Manager
and then left click on the + beside Network adapters. Right click on your adapter (with the yellow ? flag) and choose Update
Driver from the menu.
You also said, "in the Device Manager there is a yellow question mark next to the Ethernet and there is no Network Adapter
listed in the Device Manager file"
Isn't the Ethernet in the list under Network adapters??
In any case, I'd use the "Search automatically" option, and the manual "Browse" option if auto search didn't find it. To give an
example, my Dell laptop has a folder named 'Dell Wireless WLAN Card' with a subfolder named 'Driver'.
If this doesn't work then the web is virtually your last hope. Good luck.

[sobeit]

Hello sofaspud,
I failed to mention the CD-Rom and the C:/ drive at the beginning, wasn't thinking straight when I posted for help and so I apologize for the confusion. As I did mention I changed the CD-Rom and then ran the restored disk. I booted the computer up and try to get on-line that's when I discovered that there was no internet connection and in the Hardware/Device Manager there was no listing of the Network Adapter, just the Ethernet with the yellow question mark next to it.
I have downloaded onto a flash drive the Network Adapter Device from the Free Download Dell Site, and hoping I downloaded the proper device. I went to transfer the download to the desktop and I wasn't able to transfer. Hoping to get more advice and idea's to get the internet back.
Thanks.

[sofaspud]

Your computer won't transfer from a USB thumb drive to the hard drive?
That doesn't sound good. You might need to find USB drivers, too.
Sounds like that is the proper device driver that you downloaded, but did you try the Update Driver instructions from my previous post?

Hmmm... you say, "I went to transfer the download to the desktop and I wasn't able to transfer." If I now understand that correctly,
ummm, forget that "desktop" stuff. IMO, the only things that get sent to the desktop are those few shortcut icons that I use often
enough to not want to hunt-and-peck them from the Start Menu. All else is foolish nonsense! (eg Vista Gadgets). But I'm slipping into
OCD digression...
Does the flash drive show up in Windows Explorer? If it does, note the drive letter. Follow the Update Driver
directions above, and choose 'Browse for driver'. Go to the drive letter of your flash drive, select it, click down to the subfolder that
contains the driver, if it's not in the root directory of the flash drive, and then click OK.

But follow the instructions from the first post first. If the driver is still somewhere on your hard drive, it's obviously the one you want. If
you install the newly downloaded driver and it's the wrong one, you will have made no progress at all.

[MrAl]

Hi again,


Yeah, if i remember right Win98 needed drivers even for the USB drives.
I guess you would need to burn a CD or if they fit on a floppy and your computer has a floppy
you can try that instead of the USB drive. Once the USB drivers are installed the USB
drive should work again.

The only other idea is that if you cant get the drivers someone might offer to burn you a CD
with the correct drivers and send it to you. Hopefully you are in the US?
If you cant find any other way i guess i could do this for you. I'd have to ask though that you
find all the drivers first and make sure they are the right ones, then provide the web
addresses or links so i can find them. I am assuming that the CD drive works though?

I also assume that you looked on your computer for the USB drivers too just in case they
are there somewhere and have to be manually installed.

[sofaspud]

If it is Win98 we're talking about here, I think it does include a driver for USB 1. But, as I recently experienced, I couldn't get
my Win98 machine to recognize anything bigger than a 1G thumb drive. And anything with U3... forget it.

[sobeit]

Hey Guys,
I really appreciate your help with this, and with the info I gave for the download on the USB, I am not sure if I even have the right device to transfer, but I do have the USB drives, I just am not sure how to transfer from USB to the proper drive in the computer. I'll go to install but when I bring the G drive up it doesn't show the download. So now I'm still stuck.
MrAl, you said you can get me the proper devices, that would be great! Let me know what info you need and I'll give more to you.
It's a Dell Dimension 2400 series,
The Network Adapter was a Intel Pro Adapter Driver, RAS Async Adapter??
Hope this help for info.
Sofaspud, I also appreciate your help as well.
Please help me with more input.

[MrAl]

Hi again,


What i was hoping was that you could look on the internet somehow and find the driver for your
product and i would download it and burn it to CD then send it to you via snail mail.

I found a driver installer, but am not sure if it is for your card or not. When you say
"Intel Pro", is there any number that goes with it like 10, 100, 1000, etc. ?

You have a yellow mark next to RAS Async Adapter too then?

[sobeit]

Hi MrAl,
As for the RAS Async Adapter, that was what I read from the Ethernet properties. And as for the Network Adapter I am going by another dell computer I am working on, that came up as a "Broadcom 440x-10/100". I am praying you can help me out in getting the right device.
Thanks

[haklesup]

Is the NIC built into the motherboard or is is an add on card. If it is an add on then; power down, remove it, reboot, power down, re insert it, reboot and the OS should try to install it new.

Its not uncommon for hardware or other settings to be disabled during a restore or rescue. Have you tried calling Dell support?

Also MS Internet Explorer has a "Diagnose Connection Problems" wizard under the tools menu and a similar tool is available in the Help. (at least it is in XP)

[sobeit]

Hi haklesup,
The NIC is in the MB. I did call Dell support, after 2.5 hours later they told me the computer was no longer under warranty, and for them to help me I was going to be charged, then I hung on them. I was very disappointed with them. And I did the Diagnose Connection Problems Wizard but still didn't help. All I need is the Ethernet back and the Network Adapter drive back. I never had this problem before and this programming stuff is not my field.

Please more Input.
Thanks