Can an Aetheros Ethernet Adapter device fail?

I keep getting Blue Screens (off and on the last few days) - identifying the problem as Device Less Than or Not Equal - and in the Blue Screen text, it states that the source of the problem is a driver ... L1C62X64.sys.

I was able to identify this driver online as an Aetheros Ethernet Driver.

I went to the Aetheros website and downloaded the driver, installed it, and for awhile it was working fine.

But a couple days back, when Microsoft pushed through Windows 10 to my PC, my hard drive crashed. Windows as no longer able to boot up. With much headache and effort, I was able to reinstall Windows 7 64-bit (Ultra). I restored programs, found missing music and document files that were moved to Windows.old, etc. And then the Aetheros Ethernet Driver started giving me blue screens again. I reinstalled the driver, but without success.

So now, before I take this PC to a shop (I am NO PC hardware specialist, I'm an old lady who uses my PC to read email, shop on the Internet and play games), I'm asking if my Ethernet Adapter controller could be failing? I have learned that some devices in a PC are Solid State - they don't "wear out" like car parts. Can someone please advise me on this, before I struggle getting my big old PC out of my house to a shop? I'm also running Windows 7 64-bit on an Intel Pendium Dual Core processor.