No Network Connections after reformat and reinstall

Hi Linda,

Conexant I believe is for your modem.

The driver installation is important. It's normally chipset, then video, network, audio, etc. So go back to drivers and download these to a flash drive, then install them. Here's a link to the drivers for your system.

Everything on the download list for your model is not for your configuration. You have to know which hardware is installed before selecting drivers. Firmware updates are not drivers and should not be installed unless you are instructed to install them by Support. The wrong firmware update can make the hardware fail. Also, you should not wipe the drive before reinstalling windows. The proper method is to boot to the windows disk and then reformat using disk options in the installation procedure. Lastly, to find out which Modem you have, look at Hardware Device Manager, Modem. That will tell you the exact modem you have and point you to the one modem driver you need. It will also list all your hardware models. Use that to find the right drivers--one driver to each piece of hardware.

Since you installed too many diff unnecessary drivers, you will probably need to start over from the beginning and install drivers in the proper order. Instructions for reinstalling windows are Here: support.dell.com/.../document

Linda please follow my instructions in my wiki A Clean Install of Windows using your Dell Windows XP Reinstallation CD. This will take you through everything and the correct order to install the drivers.

Please clarify did you use your Dell Reinstallation XP CD and then use your Dell Reinstallation CD to Upgrade XP to XP or Upgrade XP Home to XP Professional or XP to Vista?

The drivers you mentioned are your Communications/Modem Drivers. For network you need the drivers:

• R67150 Intel LOM Driver and R67344 Intel LOM Diagnostics 

This is for your Ethernet. You may also have an optional wireless USB 2.0 device and the drivers are available for it.

You should install the appropriate Chipset, Video, Comms, Network and then the Audio. Also Dell Support Centre (I think your model is compatible).

Also, I'm not sure this is a driver issue.  I feel as though I might be missing some hardware?  When I open "network connections" it is totally blank.  I also read something about chipset drivers but I don't know what these are.

The 4600's network hardware is integral to the mainboard and made by Intel. The Conexant drivers are for old-fashioned dial-up modems that were still popular at the time the 4600 was designed. As Osprey has pointed out, you can download the integrated Intel 10/100 LOM driver here.

When Windows detects a new network, it will prompt you to create a network connection. Of course, that can't happen until the driver for the network hardware is installed.

Regarding the driver order, historically there were problems with early versions of Windows XP that were missing drivers for the then-new 4600, but if you have a later version, that won't be an issue. You might want to skip the optional Dell support software, as Windows XP, now with three Service Packs, can provide update functionality via Windows Update. What I do strongly suggest you do is download and install the service packs and updates, as unpatched Windows XP installations are extremely vulnerable to malware and criminal gangs deliberately target Windows XP for that reason. (In fact, if you install pre-SP2 Windows XP without using a hardware firewall, your PC can be compromised within seconds, as happened to me.)

Likely you will just need the single nVidea driver. Seems like there was alot of variation with the graphics card, generally its just one of them you require.

If you have a nVidia video card, you might be able to get an updated driver straight from nVidia's site.