Hi folks,

My neighbor gave me an older computer. (Compaq Presario SR1020 NX - no system/recovery disks came with it) It has xp home SP1 and IE 6.0.2800. It was used by teenagers that did a lot of p2p file sharing and toolbar installing and who knows what else and was consequently barely functioning. I have been cleaning it up and believe that I have removed all the toxic infestations that I can without an internet connection to update the OS, etc. - which brings me to you fine people and my question...

I have existing high speed DSL through an ATT 2wire 2701HG-B gateway/router. It has a desktop connected through ethernet/cat 5 wiring and a laptop that connects wirelessly. Both these work just fine. File and printer sharing is OFF on both these computers - they do not "see" each other - which is how I want it for now.

I want to connect the 3rd computer up via ethernet cable directly to the router and am having problems. The network adapter is a Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast ethernet NIC. It shows up as functional in the device manager but ipconfig shows "media disconnected". I have used several different new cat5 cables and tried all the ports on the router. I have disabled and re-enabled the driver in device manager and disabled and re-enabled the local area connection in Network Connections. I have gone through the limited ATT help desk with "no joy". I am not sure what steps to take now.

Is there a way to tell if the NIC is fried for sure, before I go out and have to spend $$ I don't really have to buy a new NIC? I will if I have to, but would like to know for sure before I do...

Many, many thanks!

~D

well you should probably take a spin through the malware forum to make sure the computer is really clean (it's going to take some time since you can't get online with the computer...but you can burn files to CD etc...)

Please read the Malware/Spyware cleaning guide here follow the instructions at the top....

That will give you several steps that will help you clean up 70 percent of all problems by yourself. If at the end of the process you are still having difficulty (and you may not be) then post an OTL log in THE MALWARE FORUM forum.
(Posting OTL logs or ANY other logs requested in the malware/spyware cleaning guide in any other forum other than the malware forum is forbidden. If you post any of these logs in any other forum, it will be removed and it will take you longer to get help, so please make sure you only post logs in the malware forum)

If you are still having problems after getting a clean bill of health from the malware expert, please return to this thread..


second...it sounds like the NIC has gone south physically...a standard PCI nic is a pretty cheap component so replacing it shouldn't be that big of a deal.....if you've got access to a PCI nic from another machine then you could slap it in and test it out

go here...get your chipset driver and install it first...also get the Network Adapter Driver ...then install the Original Network Adapter Driver Collection and install it reboot between installs..and again AFTER both installs..
I suggest that while your there get ALL the drivers and burn them to a cd for later down the road...
if all else fails go here and get a PCI NIC for $12.00..plug it in and install the drivers from the cd that comes with it...unplug from the wall BEFORE you open the case

Thanks to both of you for your quick replies and advice!

dsenette:

Please read the Malware/Spyware cleaning guide here follow the instructions at the top....


I appreciate you reply! Previous to my post here, I had run through the steps in the guide, plus Dr. Web CureIt, SAS and a few other things that I could do safely without assistance, which is why I felt it was clean enough to try to get online and start updating, running Kaspersky online scan, etc. Sorry I neglected to mention that. I didn't want to bug the Malware folks until I had done all that I could myself. I will, upon your advice, (which I respect a great deal) pop over there and post...

BTW, Nice to know that there is someone else from Knox here!

happyrock:

Thank you very much for your links and direction! I should have thought of that, but got so caught up in the details that I couldn't see the trees for the bark! I will follow up!

I will post back after following both you folks instructions to let you know how it worked out.

Thanks! I really appreciate it!
~D

and no i will not come over and fix it for you

Bananas are cheap

Awwwwww...




No, really it's a fun challenge to do what I can myself. I learn a lot & I like that.

Cheers! (y'all)