[cyclone05]

I have a couple of questions. My operating system is Windows 98 Second Ed. I have a HP Pavilion 6636 with Intel Celeron 500MHz processor. I am going to get ADSL internet service, so I tried to install a D-Link DFE-530TX+ PCI Adapter. After I installed it and restarted my computer I got the error message: "WSCGetProviderPath failed, returning WSAEPROVIDERFAILEDINIT." I could hook up to the internet via dial-up but Microsoft Internet Explorer would not work and some other programs would not work and the above error message kept coming up. I called D-link support and they said it looked like a Windows problem. I couldn't find anything about what the error message meant. I ran Scandisk and it found no errors. I uninstalled the PCI Adaptor but the error message kept coming up, so I ran my HP Pavilion Recovery CD. My computer is fine now, but I would like to know what the error message means and what I should do if it appears again.

The next thing is that I looked at my network settings and noticed that in the box "The following network components are installed:" was listed "HP EN1207D-TX PCI 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adaptor." What is that? Does that mean that I already have a Network Interface Card installed in my computer? Could that have caused the previous error problem? Also, if I do have a NIC already installed, how do I use? My ADSL provider requires me to have a Twisted Pair Ethernet Network Interface Card installed on my computer. Is the HP EN1207D-TX PCI 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adaptor good enough or do I need something else?

Thank you very much for any help you can provide me.

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the error means that the winsock api failed to access the hardware...why, not sure.

Here's the big question on the second issue....is there another port on the back? Yes, that is a NIC card.

Where'd this machine come from?

Could be that the card was in it at one time and removed, and you restored an image that included that driver. If the card is not there, delete it, then try to install the old 530 tx....that's kind fo an old NIC, is it not?

[gerryf]

the error means that the winsock api failed to access the hardware...why, not sure.

Here's the big question on the second issue....is there another port on the back? Yes, that is a NIC card.

Where'd this machine come from?

Could be that the card was in it at one time and removed, and you restored an image that included that driver. If the card is not there, delete it, then try to install the old 530 tx....that's kind fo an old NIC, is it not?

[cyclone05]

Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry I don't know a lot about computers, so could you explain what a "winsock api" is? The only other port I have is my modem--a Conexant SoftK56 PCI Modem. I purchased my computer new at a store, so I don't think anything was removed. I am not sure if the DFE-530TX+ PCI Adapter is old, I just bought it a couple of days ago from Best Buy. Thanks again for the info.

[gerryf]

and knowing is not important (the API stuff....programming stuff, means application program interface....it refers to how hardware and the OS talk.)

The key question---look on the back....do you see a NIC port?