network adapters

I cannot get my Ethernet pci adapter to load. I am using Windows ME on
another computer. I was having problems with the computer so I did a
recovery w/o formatting the hard drive. Now, when I go to "My Computer" and
right click on it and go down to network adapters the computer acts like
nothing is there. I right click on network adapters, go to properties and
click on it and nothing happens. I do not have any cards in the pci slots
currently, however, next the the network adapter title there is a "+". When
I expand down, there is a icon, like the network adapter icon, but no writing
next to it. Prior to having problems with my computer and running the
recovery cd this is the area where my card manufacturer name would appear. I
cannot delete this entry. I have tried removing it in safe mode also. If I
install my pci card and reboot the system will find the new hardware and
install it with the correct drivers, however, when I go to the network
adapters under the device manager a second network adapter icon appears w/o
any writing next to it. I cannot remove this one either.
This is driving me crazy. Anybody have any suggestions????

Reboot to Safe Mode, and remove ALL instances of any duplicated NIC devices,
and any error-flagged ones from Device Manager - reboot to Normal Mode, and
Windows will reinstall any required drivers.

See if that helps

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I cannot get my Ethernet pci adapter to load. I am using Windows ME on
another computer. I was having problems with the computer so I did a
recovery w/o formatting the hard drive. Now, when I go to "My Computer"
and
right click on it and go down to network adapters the computer acts like
nothing is there. I right click on network adapters, go to properties and
click on it and nothing happens. I do not have any cards in the pci slots
currently, however, next the the network adapter title there is a "+".
When
I expand down, there is a icon, like the network adapter icon, but no
writing
next to it. Prior to having problems with my computer and running the
recovery cd this is the area where my card manufacturer name would appear.
I
cannot delete this entry. I have tried removing it in safe mode also. If I
install my pci card and reboot the system will find the new hardware and
install it with the correct drivers, however, when I go to the network
adapters under the device manager a second network adapter icon appears
w/o
any writing next to it. I cannot remove this one either.
This is driving me crazy. Anybody have any suggestions????

Noel,
Thanks for writing back. I am not sure what you meant by NIC devices.
However, I did go through and remove anthing I thought might be a duplicate.
Problem is, I still cannot remove the item connected from the network adapter
drop down. I did not have any error-flagged items. When I click on all of
the icons, except the network adapter icon, under the device manager and
click properties, another box comes up. Nothing happens when I right click
on network adapters icon and go down to properties. Any additional
suggestions?
Jeff

"Noel Paton" wrote:

Reboot to Safe Mode, and remove ALL instances of any duplicated NIC devices,
and any error-flagged ones from Device Manager - reboot to Normal Mode, and
Windows will reinstall any required drivers.

See if that helps

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I cannot get my Ethernet pci adapter to load. I am using Windows ME on
another computer. I was having problems with the computer so I did a
recovery w/o formatting the hard drive. Now, when I go to "My Computer"
and
right click on it and go down to network adapters the computer acts like
nothing is there. I right click on network adapters, go to properties and
click on it and nothing happens. I do not have any cards in the pci slots
currently, however, next the the network adapter title there is a "+".
When
I expand down, there is a icon, like the network adapter icon, but no
writing
next to it. Prior to having problems with my computer and running the
recovery cd this is the area where my card manufacturer name would appear.
I
cannot delete this entry. I have tried removing it in safe mode also. If I
install my pci card and reboot the system will find the new hardware and
install it with the correct drivers, however, when I go to the network
adapters under the device manager a second network adapter icon appears
w/o
any writing next to it. I cannot remove this one either.
This is driving me crazy. Anybody have any suggestions????

NIC=Network Adapter (roughly speakingg)
In Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
r-click on the Network Adapter (or any child devices), and select Delete

reboot to Normal Mode
Windows will reinstall

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Noel,
Thanks for writing back. I am not sure what you meant by NIC devices.
However, I did go through and remove anthing I thought might be a
duplicate.
Problem is, I still cannot remove the item connected from the network
adapter
drop down. I did not have any error-flagged items. When I click on all of
the icons, except the network adapter icon, under the device manager and
click properties, another box comes up. Nothing happens when I right
click
on network adapters icon and go down to properties. Any additional
suggestions?
Jeff

"Noel Paton" wrote:

Reboot to Safe Mode, and remove ALL instances of any duplicated NIC
devices,
and any error-flagged ones from Device Manager - reboot to Normal Mode,
and
Windows will reinstall any required drivers.

See if that helps

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I cannot get my Ethernet pci adapter to load. I am using Windows ME on
another computer. I was having problems with the computer so I did a
recovery w/o formatting the hard drive. Now, when I go to "My Computer"
and
right click on it and go down to network adapters the computer acts
like
nothing is there. I right click on network adapters, go to properties
and
click on it and nothing happens. I do not have any cards in the pci
slots
currently, however, next the the network adapter title there is a "+".
When
I expand down, there is a icon, like the network adapter icon, but no
writing
next to it. Prior to having problems with my computer and running the
recovery cd this is the area where my card manufacturer name would
appear.
I
cannot delete this entry. I have tried removing it in safe mode also.
If I
install my pci card and reboot the system will find the new hardware
and
install it with the correct drivers, however, when I go to the network
adapters under the device manager a second network adapter icon appears
w/o
any writing next to it. I cannot remove this one either.
This is driving me crazy. Anybody have any suggestions????

Thanks again Noel.
I have tried that. No luck. I cannot delete the network adapter category.
Message comes on stating "Device categories cannot be removed". As far as
the child devices, system will not let me delete them. Guess I will have to
pay somebody to check this out. Computer is 4 years old, probably not worth
fixing! Thanks again for your help Noel.
Jeff

"Noel Paton" wrote:

NIC=Network Adapter (roughly speakingg)
In Safe Mode
Open Device Manager
r-click on the Network Adapter (or any child devices), and select Delete

reboot to Normal Mode
Windows will reinstall

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Noel,
Thanks for writing back. I am not sure what you meant by NIC devices.
However, I did go through and remove anthing I thought might be a
duplicate.
Problem is, I still cannot remove the item connected from the network
adapter
drop down. I did not have any error-flagged items. When I click on all of
the icons, except the network adapter icon, under the device manager and
click properties, another box comes up. Nothing happens when I right
click
on network adapters icon and go down to properties. Any additional
suggestions?
Jeff

"Noel Paton" wrote:

Reboot to Safe Mode, and remove ALL instances of any duplicated NIC
devices,
and any error-flagged ones from Device Manager - reboot to Normal Mode,
and
Windows will reinstall any required drivers.

See if that helps

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
I cannot get my Ethernet pci adapter to load. I am using Windows ME on
another computer. I was having problems with the computer so I did a
recovery w/o formatting the hard drive. Now, when I go to "My Computer"
and
right click on it and go down to network adapters the computer acts
like
nothing is there. I right click on network adapters, go to properties
and
click on it and nothing happens. I do not have any cards in the pci
slots
currently, however, next the the network adapter title there is a "+".
When
I expand down, there is a icon, like the network adapter icon, but no
writing
next to it. Prior to having problems with my computer and running the
recovery cd this is the area where my card manufacturer name would
appear.
I
cannot delete this entry. I have tried removing it in safe mode also.
If I
install my pci card and reboot the system will find the new hardware
and
install it with the correct drivers, however, when I go to the network
adapters under the device manager a second network adapter icon appears
w/o
any writing next to it. I cannot remove this one either.
This is driving me crazy. Anybody have any suggestions????

Jeff,

You can't delete the category in the device manager but you should be able
to delete all the devices within the category when you boot into Safe
Mode. Not that you want to do this but when necessary you can delete
every entry in the Device Manager when in Safe Mode leaving just the
various categories and shouldn't see any error message when doing so
(other than perhaps for the IDE controller).
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Jeff wrote:

Thanks again Noel.
I have tried that. No luck. I cannot delete the network adapter
category. Message comes on stating "Device categories cannot be
removed". As far as the child devices, system will not let me delete
them. Guess I will have to pay somebody to check this out. Computer
is 4 years old, probably not worth fixing! Thanks again for your
help Noel.

(Even the IDE controller is removable in Safe Mode without error messages,
Mike - it's actually unloaded at shutdown, AFAIK)

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Jeff,

You can't delete the category in the device manager but you should be able
to delete all the devices within the category when you boot into Safe
Mode. Not that you want to do this but when necessary you can delete
every entry in the Device Manager when in Safe Mode leaving just the
various categories and shouldn't see any error message when doing so
(other than perhaps for the IDE controller).
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Jeff wrote:

Thanks again Noel.
I have tried that. No luck. I cannot delete the network adapter
category. Message comes on stating "Device categories cannot be
removed". As far as the child devices, system will not let me delete
them. Guess I will have to pay somebody to check this out. Computer
is 4 years old, probably not worth fixing! Thanks again for your
help Noel.

Noel Paton wrote:

(Even the IDE controller is removable in Safe Mode without error
messages, Mike - it's actually unloaded at shutdown, AFAIK)

Noel,

I appreciate that it can be removed but I seem to recall the order of
removing devices is important. For example I think all attached devices
have to be first removed and then the master controller. I seem to recall
also that the primary and secondary controllers can't of themselves be
removed.
--
Mike

True - as always, it's necessary to work from the outside in towards the
central functions.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:

(Even the IDE controller is removable in Safe Mode without error
messages, Mike - it's actually unloaded at shutdown, AFAIK)

Noel,

I appreciate that it can be removed but I seem to recall the order of
removing devices is important. For example I think all attached devices
have to be first removed and then the master controller. I seem to recall
also that the primary and secondary controllers can't of themselves be
removed.
--
Mike

Some readers may find this ancient post by Bill Drake informative:

Subject: Removal of Ghost Drivers
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 15:40:43 -0700
From: "Bill Drake"
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win98.performance

Opening Comments:

Removing "ghosts" from Device Manager is an important step towards
ensuring System stability -- especially when installing new hardware.

The W9x PnP Manager will *try* to accommodate all the entries found
in Device Manager (including "ghosts") when installing new hardware.

If the "ghosts" consume needed IRQs and/or other hardware
resources required by the newly-installed hardware -- this can and
does cause the newly-installed hardware to either fail to install, or
for the hardware to install in a manner which is undesirable.

To ensure the above does not occur -- it is highly recommended to
remove all "ghost" items from Device Manager so that Plug-'n-Play
does not spend its time trying to accommodate hardware which is no
longer present in the machine.


However, there are some circumstances which make it advisable to
remove "ghost" driver entries from Device Manager in subgroups,
rather than all-at-once. Usually, the items that must be removed
separately are found in the "System Devices" group.

Removal procedure is as follows:

1. Open Device Manager while running Windows in Normal Mode. Write
down all the items found in the "System Devices" group.

2. Open Device Manager while running Windows in Safe Mode. Compare
the list of items found in the "System Devices" group under Safe Mode
against the list from step 1.

3. Remove any items found under "System Devices" that exist in Safe
Mode but do not exist in Normal Mode. This removes "ghosts" that
belong to hardware that no longer exists in your machine.

4. Do *not* remove double-or-more items from "System Devices" at this
time.

5. Restart Windows in normal mode and allow the Registry to stabilize
with the new configuration.

6. Restart Windows in safe mode. Recheck the items under "System
Devices" in Device Manager and verify that the items you removed
in Step 3 are well and truly gone. If not, report back here with
details of the problem.

7. Next, we are going to clean up all the items *except* the "Hard Disk
Controllers" and the "System Devices" sections. (These are the two
sections which sometimes require special treatment.)

Check for duplicate entries for all sections *except* the "Hard Disk
Controllers" and "System Devices" sections. Remove *all* duplicate
entries from the remaining sections. Shut down and restart Windows.

8. Windows will then redetect the hardware for all items where you
removed duplicate entries. This is normal and correct. Windows
will ask you to reboot as it redetects some of the hardware. This is
also normal and correct. Reboot as often as Windows requests
until you get to your usual Windows desktop in Normal Mode. At
this point, shut down Windows and restart one more time. This will
normalize the Registry with all the changes in place.

9. Start Windows in Safe Mode. Check for the presence of *one and
only one* entry for all the items except for the "Hard Disk
Controllers"
and "System Devices" sections. If not, report back here with details
of the problem.

10. Now we are going to handle the "Hard Disk Controllers" item. Check
for the presence of duplicate entries under the "Hard Disk
Controllers"
item. If found, try and remove all entries. It is very common to
have
a problem with this -- where the "child" devices under the "parent"
Hard Disk controller do not disappear when the "parent" Hard Disk
Controller is removed. If you have this problem, you will have to
manually edit the Registry to remove the offending items.

To remove the offending Registry entries, proceed as follows:

Make note of the name of one of the items. For my example below,
I am going to use "Primary IDE Controller (dual FIFO)" -- which is a
common example of the offending key-item.

Close Device Manager. Open Regedit while still in Safe Mode and
do a "Find" for "Primary IDE". This should take you to the following
section of the Registry:

HKLM/Enum/MF/CHILDxxxx/PCI&.......

The "xxxx" part above will normally be 0000. However, it could be
a larger number such as 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. The "PCI&...."
part will be a long string of info that varies according to the
particular
type of Hard Disk Controller Chip in your machine.

Note: The particular "key" that you happen to be looking at in
Regedit is always displayed on the "advice line" at the
bottom of the Regedit window.

Highlight the particular key that contains the data (this is the open
folder on the left side of the screen). Hit the Delete key. Regedit
will ask you if you are sure you want to delete this key. Click Yes.

Close Regedit and reopen. Repeat the "Find" procedure while
searching for "Secondary IDE". Highlight and delete this key in
the same manner as for "Primary IDE".

Reopen Device Manager. The two "ghost" entries for the child-items
under "Hard Disk Controllers" should be gone. If you started with
more than two items, go back and check for other "ghosts" using the
same procedure as above (but with the proper name for the search).

Note: All the offending keys will be found as subkeys in the
HKLM/Enum/MF/CHILDxxxx/ hierarchy. Check the
"DeviceDesc" key-item in each case -- for a name that
relates to a Hard Disk Controller

BTW, when you find a description that matches a
Hard Disk Controller item, do *not* just delete the
description. (Don't work on the right side of the
Regedit screen.) You need to delete the entire set
of data referring to the "ghost" Hard Disk Controller
by deleting the open "folder" on the left side of the
screen.

Once you have properly deleted all the offending Registry keys, the
"Hard Disk Controller" item in the "Device Manager" should disappear.
This is confirmation that you have *no* Hard Disk Controller items in
Device Manager -- which is exactly what you want at this point.

11. Restart Windows in Normal Mode. Windows will then redetect your
Hard Disk Controller chip and the Primary IDE Controller. Windows
will ask to restart. Restart as directed. On restart, Windows will
redetect your Secondary IDE controller. Restart again, whether
Windows tells you to or not.

Note: Some versions of motherboard BIOS will allow detection of
both Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers during the first
restart. Others will require two restarts to detect the
Primary
and Secondary controllers. Both variations are normal and
correct.

12. After detection of the Primary and Secondary IDE Controllers is
complete, restart Windows one more time. This will normalize
the Registry with all the Hard Disk Controller items in place.

13. Restart Windows in Safe Mode. Open Device Manager and
check to ensure there is *one-and-only-one* set of items for the
Hard Disk Controller. There should be one parent item noting
the controller chip used and two child items noting the Primary
and Secondary IDE channels. If not, report back here with
details of the problem.

14. The final item is to clear duplicate entries in the "System
Devices" section of Device Manager. This is sometimes *very*
tricky -- it depends upon your motherboard BIOS and the
particular hardware on your motherboard. Motherboards using
the VIA chipsets are the trickiest in this regard.

Remove duplicate entries as follows:

a) Open Device Manager in Safe Mode.

b) Select a *single* set of duplicate-entries. Delete this set.
Do *not* remove multiple-different-entries from the
"System Devices" section at the same time. There are
dependencies here which can cause real problems if
you remove more than one duplicate-set at a time.

c) Restart Windows in Normal mode. Allow Windows to
redetect and install a proper single-copy of the duplicates
you removed in step b).

d) Restart Windows in Safe Mode. Open Device Manager
and Check for the presence of the single item redetected
in step c).

e) Repeat Steps b) through d) until all duplicate items are
removed and single items for each of these entries are
shown.


Caveats, wrinkles and "gotchas":

1. The "System Devices" section will show a number of "IRQ
Holder for PCI Steering" items. These need to be deleted
as a block, but only once. They will be redetected and
reinstalled on the next Windows restart in Normal mode.

This item is a potential landmine. Do *not* make any other
changes to your system while performing this particular
update.

Note: It is normal and correct to have multiple entries for
"IRQ Holder for PCI Steering" items -- which show
under Safe Mode but not under Normal Mode.

However, the only way to be sure that none of these
items are "ghosts" is to follow the procedure noted
above -- with all hardware installed, configured and
operating correctly.

2. If you have duplicate entries for the "PCI Bus" under "System
Devices", do *not* make any other changes to your system
while performing this particular update. This item is another
potential landmine.



Hope this helps.
Best I can do for now. tm

Bill Drake

--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...t/default.aspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Noel Paton" wrote in message
...
True - as always, it's necessary to work from the outside in towards the
central functions.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm
http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Noel Paton wrote:

(Even the IDE controller is removable in Safe Mode without error
messages, Mike - it's actually unloaded at shutdown, AFAIK)

Noel,

I appreciate that it can be removed but I seem to recall the order of
removing devices is important. For example I think all attached devices
have to be first removed and then the master controller. I seem to
recall
also that the primary and secondary controllers can't of themselves be
removed.
--
Mike