USB network card not recognized

I have a laptop that is not recognizing my usb network card. I have plugged this network card in several other systems running various operating systems and the O.S. always recognizes the card, asks for drivers, configures the card, and everything works. This time, however, during the driver installation and configuration, the process just stopped and the windows closed. Afterwards, I could not look at the properties of 'My Network Places' (nothing would happen when I clicked on 'Properties'), and there was no 'Network' icon in the control panel. Per a Microsoft support document, I restored two files (netid.dll and net??.??? - I don't remember) off the O.S. CD and fixed that particular problem. Now, when I plug in the NIC, nothing happens. I can attach other devices (flash driver, printer, etc) to the single USB port that I have and they function properly. Is there any way to clean out the partial install of this device? The drivers only consist of three files, an .inf file and a .com file and a .sys file. I have searched the hard drive to see if any of these three files were present or if any files contained any keywords in the .inf file and did not find anything. I have also searched the registry for model, manufacturer, and other keywords relative to this device and have not found anything. I have deleted the USB root hub and the USB controller and rebooted, forcing a reinstall of the USB hardware both with and without the device attached. This did not help. Here is what I can remember from the system (I don't have it in front of me):

System Manufacturer: Gateway
Model: Part of the Solo line, I think
CPU: Pent. III
RAM: unknown
USB Ports: 1
Operating System: Windows ME
Network Card: Asix AX88172
Network Card Details: USB to fast ethernet 10/100 Mbps

If anyone has any ideas, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read all this and for your response.

Troy

 

Just thought I would let everyone know this problem is resolved. I did some additional searching in the registry and found where the device was being enumerated. It was a little scary, but I deleted the entries specific to the NIC based on identifiers in the device's .inf file. When I plugged the NIC in, the system detected it and asked for the drivers like it's supposed to.

Thanks to those who read this.