[guitarfreak5892]

i recently installed win xp on a computer i rebuilt. it is a dell inspiron 3700. the computer does not have a built in ethernet port so i had to buy a PCI adapter. when i went to install the hardware windows was not able to install the ethernet controller for it and since i cannot connect to the internet i dont know how to install the driver. please help.

 

[BCCOMP]

Hi,
Is this a laptop?
What is the make and model of your PCI ethernet adapter?
Also go to your device manager and post any errors (yellow !)
Thanks,
Bill

 

[TechSOS]

All ethernet NIC's come with software and drivers required for installation, however in some cases, such as yours, it doesn't. The only fix for this would either be to download the drivers over the internet (which you can't), or to get a different NIC. There is a very small chance that the NIC did not come with drivers (astronomical), but its still possible.

But first, try to remove the NIC and powercycle the computer and then re-install the NIC into the first PCI slot on the motherboard followed by another powercycle. If not, then you can go to a friends house and download the drivers from the manufacterer's website on a CD-RW and stick it in the computer.