replaced hard drive and cannot connect to internet

Question

thanks in advance for any help you can offer:

i have a Dell Optiplex GX240, service tag 3XPZJ11. the hard drive crashed and was physically damaged so i replaced it with another drive i had in an older pc. this drive had winME on it and it booted and went through the new hardware recognition process. then i upgraded it to winxp pro and tried without success to make a broadband connection to my sbcglobal dsl account. the pc is connected directly to my dsl modem via an ethernet cable and there is no network with a router. when i try to create a new connection i follow the usual Wizard steps to create a Broadband connection entering my isp login and password. however, after the connection is created the shortcut has a red X on it and doesn't launch at all. also, when i look at the connection in the Network Connections folder it lists it as a Dial-up type not Broadband and the Status says: unavailable - Device missing. the Local Area Connection in the systray also reports "Limited ot No connectivity" and has a yellow icon on it with an exclamation mark on it. i tried to use its Repair function to assign an IP address, but it fails everytime.

the Device Manager shows the ethernet controller as present and with no problems working properly and the Local Area Connections also lists the device (3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller) as present.

i have read through all the posts here about internet connection problems and have tried all of the following:

1. installed the Dell chipset drivers (Win XP responded and said they were already current).
2. installed the Dell ethernet drivers (they were upgraded).
3. ran the WinsockxpFix.exe.
4. checked to make sure the BIOS was turned on for ethernet controller (yes).
5. confirmed that the ethernet cable and modem work fine (i am using them on my backup pc right now to connect).

at this point i am at a loss, because this Dell was working fine with this integrated ethernet controller with Dell's original software installation (i don't have the Dell disk), but i'm guessing it is a software ipconfig issue of some sort. i don't know much about that so am hoping some can help me sort out what to do next.

below is ipconfig /all output:

Windows IP Configuration

       Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : tequila
       Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
       Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
       IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
       WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

       Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
       Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
       Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-06-5B-B5-07-D4
       Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
       Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
       Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.216.13
       Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
       Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

thanks,
aduck

jmwills · Answer

Upgraded or clean install?  I'd wipe that drive and start over with a clean install.

jmwills · Answer

If there is nothing on there worht keeping, XP is going to run better without those ME files junking up the mix.  Ping the NIC @ 127.0.0.1 adn see what you get,

aduck · Answer

i did an upgrade from the old Win ME installed on that drive. yeah, i'm planning to wipe it as my last resort, but was hoping to find out if this is just a config issue first and save the hassle. i'm also thinking of installing the extra ethernet card i have as i've seen suggested on some of the other threads...

aduck · Answer

ping info:

C:\>ping 127.0.0.1

Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

the card seems to be fully recognized and is listed in Device Manager. it just seems to be a problem with the new internet connection setup process. it ends up labeling the connection as "Dial-up" instead of "Broadband" and the Status says: "unavailable - Device missing". why does it do that? i know i'm setting up the connection correctly with the wizard, i have done this on my other pc and helped friends get set up.

BBraxton · Answer

You will do what you will do.
JMWills and I totally concur. I have never had anything but serious trouble with Windows Me, even on a totally brand new machine and would never attempt to put any other later Windows on a hard drive holding Me without totally formatting the drive (first of all, use NTFS, not FAT32).
Without the control of permissions, you are sunk in a very short while.
If you insist on keeping the system as it is so far, at least convert to NTFS at the earliest possible moment.

To do that
Start | Run CMD press [Enter]
C: press enter
CONVERT C: /FS=NTFS press [Enter]
When the process says, I must have exclusive rights and cannot do that right now, would you like to convert to NTFS when re-booting -- answer "Y"es
Then
EXIT and press [Enter]
Do a Start | Shutdown and choose Restart
When the Convert starts, do not touch the machine until it totally finishes (let it go all the way through) then do what you like about the current problem(s).

jmwills · Answer

The ping results indicate that TCP/IP is working properly.  You either have a configuration error or a bad modem.

aduck · Answer

BBraxton: thanks for the command line NTFS conversion tip. i did convert to NTFS during the upgrade and also expected that it would clean up the winME files, but then knowing MS, maybe not. i'm not against formatting and starting anew. but, does anyone know if there is a tutorial or could offer some troubleshooting steps for configuring the connection correctly? i'd like to try that. thx.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

replaced hard drive and cannot connect to internet

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