Bklyn Gal,

Did you ever re-install the operating system at any point?

Do you see any yellow exclaimination marks or red x's in the device manager?  (right click my computer, left click properties, left click hardware, left click device manager)

Rick

hi Rick, no, never re-installed the OS. in the Device Mgr, it says the NIC is working properly, and there are no yellow or red marks of any sort.  about an hour or so ago, I went to the Driver & Dowload link under Support on Dell.com, and under category, chose Network, and 2 optional downloads came up for my system: a Driver, and a Diagnostic Utility. I downloaded both, and for a second I had some hope, but that was not to be. I shut down the pc, unplugged the USB cable, put in the ethernet cable, but it still didn't work. On theback of the tower, by the ethernet port, it glowed orange and there was also a blinking yellow light. In the bottom taskbar (?) by the clock, it said I had limited or no connectivity. In the Device Mgr, under Network Adapters, the NIC was listed but NOT my cable modem which is always listed when I'm hooked up thru the USB port. I shut down again and put the USB cable back in.

did I do any harm by downloading the driver & diag utility?    

I don't think it's right that:

1. I can't speak with a Dell rep in the USA, not India
2. I should have to buy a new card, when I'm under warranty until the end of 2010
3. Dell tells me that only if it's a HARDware problem, will I be covered by warranty

any ideas of what I should do now?  thanks for the assistance!

Bklyn Gal,

Let's try something simple first.

Go to Drivers & Downloads enter your service tag number(Do NOT post your service tag number here or your post wil;l be deleted). Download and install the Desktop/Notebook Utility, might be under applications. Also download and install the Chipset drivers. These two need to be installed first or the rest of the drivers will not install.

Install these drivers, if needed.

Processor Driver (if applicable)
Video
Audio (sound)
Input Drivers (keyboard/mouse)
Modem
Network Card

QuickSet(Laptop only)

If it still doesn't work, then I have something else we can try.

Rick

Bklyn Gal,

Now go to device manager and un-install the ethernet card and restart your computer. Windows should find it again and re-install it. Sometimes things malfunction even when they say they are working correctly.

After you restart your computer and Windows finds the new hardware, then shutdown your computer. Turn off your modem/routers for 60 seconds, then power them back on. Now connect the ethernet cable to the router and your computer. Now power on the computer and login.

Are you connected?

Rick

Rick, you say "Install these (additional) drivers if needed". how in the world will I know if they are needed?  do you mean if the NIC still doesn't work after installing the Desktop Utility and the Chipset drivers?  I'm really sorry, but consider me stupid with these things!  ;-)  I do thank you very much for all of the help.

Bklyn Gal,

If you installed the operating system from a clean install, then you need to install all these drivers.

The Desktop/Notebook Utility needs to be installed first, then the chipset drivers. If they are NOT installed first, then the rest of the drivers will fail to install.

Since the operating system was re-installed did you remember to go to drivers and downloads, enter your service tag(DO NOT POST SERVICE TAG here or your post will get deleted, since it contains your personal information), and install these drivers in this order.

:emotion-55: Hint :emotion-55: When downloading the drivers, make a folder for each drivers and name it with the device it belongs with to make it easier to install them in the proper order.

Desktop System Software or Notebook System Software
Chipset or SMBus driver
Processor Driver (if applicable)
Video
Audio (sound)
Input Drivers (keyboard/mouse)
Modem
Network Card

QuickSet(Laptop only)

Rick

Rick, I'm really sorry, I'm confused...  I haven't yet tried to do it because I was waiting for you to answer my question-  I asked how will I know if I need to install the other things you mentioned (after Desktop Utility & Chipset Drivers)? Are you saying I'll have to do all of those if Desktop U & Chipset D's don't make it work?

Please advise!  and I'm not kidding, I dont understand this stuff, I need it spelled out as though you're talking to a 90 year old! (no offense...)  THANK YOU!!  

hi Rick, my pc came with XP, I never did any thing with the OS, before, or now. The only changes I've made recently, as I mentioned in my first post, was to download a Driver and Diagnotic Utility from the support area after putting in my service tag number. Did I do any damage by downloading those ? The puter has been running pretty fine, in so far as no major problems have erupted due to those actions.

I still have NOT performed any of the actions you told me about because I don't understand. So should I first download/install the Desktop Utility and Chipset Drivers, then get to the list you mention above (and are these absolutely necessary? how do I know?), then get to uninstalling the ethernet card and connecting the ethernet cable?

please Rick, I'm very sorry to sound like a broken record. I think I messed up my first pc a few years ago by doing things I didn't understand, and I'm not any better at understanding today. I appreciate your help to no end!  Lori

Lori,

Did you, by chance, install Internet Expolorer 8?

Open Internet Explorer, click on tool, manage add-ons, enable or disable add=ons and disable them all. Close Internet Explorwer and wait 30 seconds. Now open Internet Explorer. Do you see anything?

Can you surf using Mozilla Firefox?

Rick

hi Rick, no, I don't think I have IE8 installed, I think it's 6 or 7.  There were only 4 things that had to be disabled, Java Plug-In, JQSIEStart Detector, Messenger Checker Class, and Shockwave Flash Object. I did that, shut down IE, waited 30 sec, started up again. I didn't see anything.  I don't have Mozilla installed, I took a quick look at it, looks cool.

now what?  what did you think I might see after disabling the add-ons?   what about the drivers-- should I get to installing them, should I uninstall the ethernet card?

PC was running pretty slowly this morning, but maybe because it had just woken up!  (?)  thanks Rick