Belkin F5D7000uk Connection Dropouts and Crashes

[oddsprite]

Hello,
I recently purchased the above PCI network adapter. Since installing it I have had nothing but trouble with connection dropouts and computer crashes.
The installation proceeds smoothly and the card can initially connect to my Netgear router using either the Belkin Utility or the Windows wireless application. The connection remains stable and fast for about on average 10 minutes. The connection then drops and the card cannot see any networks to reconnect to. Invariably the system crashes a few minutes after this happens.
I've tried both the drivers from the CD and the latest drivers from the Belkin website with identical effect.

I've tried booting up in safe mode with networking and seeing how long the connection remains stable, which lasted about 45 minutes before I rebooted back into windows normally. Where within 5 minutes the computer crashed again. This crash was actually accompanied by a blue screen with the error being indicated as NDIS.sys. Every previous crash had just displayed the desktop frozen.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

My computer specs are as follows:
Shuttle SN45g
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
2x1GB Kingston PC3200 DDR Ram
ATI Radeon 9800XT 256mb
Maxtor 320gb Hdd
Sony DVDRW

Regards,
oddsprite

[johnwill]

That issue screams either driver problems or hardware issues. Personally, I'd return it for a better brand, I'm not a big fan of most of the Belkin gear, this is one reason why.

[oddsprite]

Thanks for the reply. I've found the connection is dropping due to signal strength. However, the crashes are happening with, or without the network card enabled. The computer was fine before I installed the network card. I can only assume that when installing the PCI card I must have damaged the motherboard or some other components. However the motherboard seems more likely since there have been graphics problems, memory errors and several Blue screen errors, each time a different error. Also, occasionally the PC refuses to post and other times the BIOS resets itself.

Damn!

oddSprite

[johnwill]

Well, with those new symptoms, you clearly have some hardware issues. I'd start by reseating all the memory, expansion cards, and cables in the system. You may have knocked something loose.

[oddsprite]

Hey, I've reseated all the components apart from the CPU. The fault had gotten gotten worse before I reseated the components, the computer refuses to post.
The LED on my motherboard is still green however and the RAM and graphics card are new (they had been working for a fortnight before these issues began). I managed to get into the BIOS tonight, and then the system again refused to POST when the computer restarted after quitting out of the BIOS.
I'm beginning to wonder if it's the CPU that's the issue since every time I do manage to get the system to post, the CPU model and speed is reported differently.

Regards,
oddsprite

[oddsprite]

PS The system just froze whilst I was in the BIOS changing settings. This problem is really beginning to confuse me!

[oddsprite]

PPS I think I've managed to narrow the problem down to the CPU, or the CPU socket on the motherboard. If I apply pressure to the top of the heat sink the system boots and gets into windows and stayed there for about 10 minutes after I stopped applying the pressure. Which is more likely, the CPU itself or the CPU socket?
I apologise this is in the networking forum, but this was originally a network card issue. Or at least seemed to be.

Regards,
oddsprite

[johnwill]

I would suspect the motherboard way sooner than the processor. It's very rare to see a physical defect in a processor, very common in a MB.