Network Adapter for Insipiron 8000

I guess I don't really know if the system was upgraded from ME to XP Pro or done as a full install.  Would that make a difference?  I could do a re-install if that might solve the problem.  For the wireless card, I installed the card into an open slot and installed the software as indicated in the instructions but couldn't get a connection either.  That card works fine on my Inspiron 8200 so I figured the problem must be something else.  Thanks for the response!

 

Thanks for the response.  How can I tell if I have a wired ethernet network card?  I have the ethernet port which is right next to the modem port.  As for the IP settings and security settings, I think I left them at default.  For the IP settings, I believe I said to detect automatically.  What should the security be set at?  I did install Service Pack 1 from the Microsoft website.  I am obviously not computer literate here, but should the wireless pc card work even if the ethernet network card is not wired?

I don't have the computers in front of me, but I know when I compared IP addresses a few days ago, they were different.  Do I need to change the IP address on the 8000 to be the same as on my other computers?  Where exactly would I need to go to compare the IP settings? 

I only installed the driver that came with the wireless card so maybe I need to download an updated driver.  I will try that.  Thank you.

I tried to install the wireless card again and this time I noticed that when I looked under Device Manager, it indicates that the "device cannot start (code 10)".  I checked Microsoft's website and there is a hotfix that I would need to contact Microsoft for, but the hotfix is for ME, the original operating system on the laptop.  This would seem like your suggestion that XP Pro should not have been done as an upgrade is the problem.  I thought I would try that, but how can I remove the XP Pro and re-install it again?  On the Windows website, it said that in some cases XP Pro cannot be removed and from what I have seen on my computer (following the unistall directions on the Windows website), I think it cannot be done on my computer.  Any suggestions?

Thanks for the quick reply.  Yes, I do have the currrent driver for the wireless card.  How do I format my hard drive?