Ethernet Controller Not Found / Driver Cannot be Found

Question

I had to reformat and reload my system on my Dimension 8250 and everything is good except for my Ethernet Internet connection.  The device manager doesn't show the Network Card at all but there are two unkown devices - a Ethernet Controller and a PCI Input device. When I look at the Properties for each device I get the following message: The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28) To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver. However, when I attempt to find the driver for these devices I get an error message that the wizard could not install the necessary software.  I attempted to manually load the drivers from the Dell site, but nothing seems to change.  Still no access to the card.    I downladed and ran Dell Support Center tool and upon performing the PC Check it again finds the device but shows that it is diabled because there isn't a driver associated with it.  That scan is included below. Does anyone have any ideas on how to resolve this issue?  The card was working right up to the time my system software got all messed up. Thanks,   Ethernet Controller [PCI:2:12:0\Device\NTPNP_PCI0016]-----------------------------------------------------   PCI Location: PCI bus 2, device 12, function 0  Device Identification    Vendor ID: 32902    Device ID: 4649  Device Class    Class Code: 2    Sub Class Code: 0    Programming Interface: 0  PCI Config Space Fields    PCI Vendor ID: 0x8086    PCI Device ID: 0x1229    Revision ID: 0x10    Programming Interface: 0x00    Sub Class Register: 0x00    Base Class Register: 0x02    Sub Vendor Id Register: 0x1028    Subsystem Id Register: 0x0145    PCI Interrupt Line: 0x03    Interrupt Pin: 0x01Product Version: 3.1.5830.14

DELL-Jesse L · Answer

JZTMac,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

When formatting and reinstalling windows the first driver that needs to be installed is the Chipset Driver. Loading this driver first will ensure all others drivers load properly and ensure the hardware works. The PCI input device is the modem that is installed in your computer. Since I do not know which network card or modem you have installed in your computer I cannot offer any other information except the link to the driver download page for your drivers listed below.

Dimension 8250 Driver Download Page

JZTMac · Answer

Jesse, thanks for the reply. It appears that this should have been the first driver installed. I simply followed the instructions that came with the Windows XP reinstallation disk that came with my system. Is it too late now (without starting over from scratch) to attempt to load the Chipset Driver? I have everything else back up and working with the exception of the Ethernet card. P.S. I did download and setup the network/ethernet drivers from my system download page, but that didn't make any difference. The system still indicates that it cannot find the drivers.

Thanks,

JZTMac · Answer

Success :emotion-2: I found that I had an Intel Pro 10/100 Ethernet card.  The PROSet II driver software that was originally installed with the installation disk and/or from my PC Configuration on Dell didn't recognize the card -- even after reloading it twice.  I went to out to Intel site and found a newer, more robust, version (PROWin32) that I downloaded and ran the setup.  After being required by PROWin32 to remove my older PROSet II installation the PROWin32 recognized my Ethernet card and I now have LAN access through that card. You may want to give this a try if you run into a similar situation...

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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