In message , thanatoid
writes:
[]
What type of PCI modem do I need?

I didn't realize there are two different type of pci
modems.

Not to my knowledge.

This is just a guess but you may have one of those "WinModems"
which use a small riser not a regular PCI slot - which may or
may not accept a regular PCI card, depending on whether I'm
wrong or not - and use parts of the Windows OS to function (yes,
I know, everything does, but this is different, you know what I
mean those who know what I mean) and are garbage although have
been known to work occasionally.

If you're using what thanatoid describes (a _very_ short card, that fits
into a special slot of which there's only one on the board), that's not
a PCI slot at all; it's basically a sort of MoDem where some of it is on
the motherboard. (Does it have any ICs on it, or just resistors
capacitors and coils/transformers?)

PCI MoDems are indeed of two different sorts - WinMoDems, which have
minimal circuitry and use the main processor to do a lot of the
processing, and non-WinMoDems, which don't. However, the physical size
of the board is not really a guide. (When you said "uses the full length
of the slot", I thought you were talking about a long card - about a
foot long! - which extends to the back of the PC case, fitting into the
plastic card guides at the back of the card chamber. But I've never seen
a MoDem - of any sort - on a full-length card.)

If it You (to me recollection) never said whether your modem is
working or not, whatever PCI slot you insert it into. If it
works, it works, If it doesn't work, throw it out and buy a
regular full length decent brand (or at least decent chip) NON-
WinModem - what are they, $8 now or something?

A little more I guess, but this might be a good choice (although
I bet you can find it elsewhere for less or for free from a
neighborhood computer shop's "obsolete but you never know" box):
[]
Or, assuming you have a serial port and the mouse isn't plugged into it,
an external MoDem - again, might be findable in a junk box. If you have
the desk room for it (and a spare socket for its power brick), they're
the least bother of all to use. (And you get some lights to show what's
happening!)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

"I'm not against women. Not often enough, anyway." - Groucho Marx