HELP! my ethernet adaptor disappeared

:confused Hi everyone. My internet connecion failed at about 5 pm today and so I powered down my modem and router and computer then restarted each in same order (I occasionaly lose connectivity and this restores it) but this time it did not fix the problem so I right clicked on My Computer and went to properties and then to hardware and looked for my ethernet adaptor. It was not listed in network adaptors so I went to control panel and install new hardware to see if I could reinstall the adaptor but no joy. What could make my adaptor disappear? I even tried a system restore with no luck. I just completed a system scan as outlined in "Read and Run Me First" and found a few things but I don't know if thats related so I thought I would try this forum first. I hope I'm not in the wrong place.(forum I mean) I have an ECS P4M800PRO-M MOBO, Intel dual core with 2 gb of DDR2 ram running Windows XP Home SP3 and I use a Linksys BEFW11S4 v.2 router to a Scientific Atlanta DPC2100 Comcast modem. In order to connect I had to hook the modem up through the usb port. Thanks for any help. Cmdr Chill

 

Try crackin open your pc case and verify that the network card is seated proper in a slot (if it's not built into the MB.)

Also do you have a physical link light from the router to the nic?

 

I had something like this happen to me a couple of weeks ago. Mine would cut out like you said also. I went and bought a new Ethernet card, plugged it in, installed software and was up and running again. No problems since ( at least being connected )

 

Another thing, if you have a restore point this might be a good time to try it.

 

Thank You very much for your suggestions I am so gratefull for your responses

Well, My NIC is onboard and the one system restore point did not fix the problem. I guess I could go get another NIC but wouldn't that just be fixing the symptom and ignoring the cause? Could a virus or worm or root kit or trojan (malware of some kind) be the culprit? I have scanned this thing with everything I know of. Do you think I should start a thread in the malware forum?

 

Tried booting into Safe Mode with Networking?
Check BIOS, has onboard NIC been disabled?
I notice you have SP3 and I believe it is still a beta version.
Any correlation between SP3 install and loss of adapter?

 

Thank You lbmest, I will try booting into safe mode as soon as my Kaspersky scan is finished (do these usually take 12 hrs?). I'm not sure what you mean by "Safe Mode with Networking" though, is that a menu choice? I will be offline for a while so could you explain what to do in safe mode? thanks Cmdr Chill
P.S. SP 3 has been fine, I've had it for about two mos with no prob. I do not believe this event is related to that install. I ran a scan with McAfee and found 5 items, 2 instances of Trojan.Ankit, and 3 instances of Dropper.Small.j and I quarentined all and then deleted all. I don't know if this trouble is related which is the reason for the multiple scans. I still may end up in Malware Forum. I'll Wait for your reply before I reboot in safe Cmdr Chill

 

As you are booting up hit F8 for choices to boot into various modes. Safe Modes work with reduced drivers.
See if adapter becomes available in Device Manager. Probably won't be any change since the NIC is onboard but is a long shot just to double check.
I don't use Kapersky but I don't believe any scan should take that long from any product.

 

Hi again, well I checked the BIOS and no ethernet adaptor listed so I checked the board physically and nothing looked out of place. BTW when I hit F8 at startup I get a list of devices to boot with HDs and CDs but no modes, (safe or otherwise). I don't know if I have that option. I know nothing could have happened physically to my adaptor and my 13 hour scan, (Kaspersky checked each file in deep mode) found nothing. What do you think lbmest, could just the ethernet adaptor fail on an otherwise perfectly fine MOBO? Could the effects of a virus remain after the said virus is removed? I have an ethernet card ready to install but I want to pin down the cause of the onboards demise first. Well thank you for any more thoughts you may have,
Cmdr Chill

 

lbmest, Hi again, since my last post I was able to boot into safe mode with networking, (I just waited a little longer before I pressed F8) and as you suspected there was no change. My NIC is still not showing up. I did a partition recovery with my most recent Acronis backup and that did nothing but set me back a few weeks. I finally just installed a new PCI NIC ( Thank You jennmomof3 !!) and that has me up and connected. I still would like to diagnose what happened to my onboard NIC though because until I do I won't be able to stop worrying that a virus did it and that it's only a matter of time until this phantom virus strikes again. At the risk of being redundant I have two questions, 1. Could a virus have done this and 2. After said virus is removed can its effect remain undetected? I guess what I'm asking is should I start a thread in the malware forum? Thanks again for all the help jnorman10, jennmomof3, Bill_Marsden, and lbmest I look forward to your reply, Cmdr Chill

 

I'm having almost the exact same issue ... (altho I'm running Vista Ultimate)

(I started a thread in the hardware issue, guessing that it is actually a mobo issue.)

If it isn't being seen in the BIOS, it shouldn't be a virus or software issue ... unless they've started getting smart enough to write in ways to flash/edit the BIOS ...

Something to add to yours -- my NIC lights are still lit up as if there were functional.

I'm trying to find some sort of diagnostics, but have had no joy yet (ECS's website is ABOMINAL to work with to actually find something useful!)

I'll let you know if I find anything.

(& that F8 pulling up a boot menu appears to be a feature of this board. Wait until after the screen that states "Hit Delete to enter Setup" & "Hit F8 for BBS Popup" disappears before tapping the F8 key ...)

(& unfortunately, I don't have a spare network card laying around.)

T

 

Well thank you very much for your reply, TomaxBlade, I'm glad to hear from someone who has the same setup as I. Sorry to hear of your matching difficulty though. You have a good point about the viruses. I really did not know how far those things could go. My machine sits in such a spot that it's very hard to see if the NIC light is on or not but the light at the router is on. I have been to the ECS site once and just gave up. If I find anything out I will post it in this thread. Thanks Again,
Cmdr Chill

 

Yeah ... at the moment I'm looking at just adding a NIC ... if you are running XP, you can get one for $5 or so ... but since I'm running Vista, it may be cheaper to simply buy another cheap ECS board!

29.99 for a card that states "vista ready" & 29.99 for another board! (the new board would allow me to get to 4G of ram, altho still only 2 slots so I'd have to replace both sticks).

Tricky choice! hehe

I'm still trying to fix the current setup, so I'll let you know if I find anything ... but I'm close to giving up! Takes longer to troubleshoot than to just replace/add hw! (especially since the ECS site doesn't offer any diagnostics programs that I can download ... or if it does, I can't find it! I wish that they just had a "search" function on their site! hehe)

 

Did anyone suggest downloading and re-installing your network driver?
VIA VT823x PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter

 

Hi musksnipe, I just reinstalled the driver and the adaptor did show up in Device Manager but it did not work. It said a network cable was unplugged. I went to Install Hardware and it said device is working properly. I don't want to think my computer is a liar but.......
btw. I was able to check for a light on the back of the computer at the NIC but there was none. I don't know if it is supposed to have one or not. Do you know TomaxBlade?

 

Try this.
http://www.ezlan.net/faq.html#unplugged

 

Nope

 

lol @ musksnipe

With mine, when I attempted to reinstall the driver, it told me that there was no compatible HW ... so I am thinking that mine (at least) is very much HW &/or BIOS &/or MOBO related.

Currently, I'm either getting a NIC or a new mobo ... for 29.99 (for either one) I'm thinking that trying to find the problem while it is my main system just isn't worth it on a time for the money scale!

 

So get this ...

After getting to the point where I just bought a new mobo & proc combo, I decided to give my old setup to my husband, since he is running XP & I can get a $5 network card for that.

I plug it all in ... & lo & behold, the LAN options are back in BIOS & the network card is WORKING!!!!

*grumbles*

Now if I could only get MY system up & running after the mobo/proc upgrade!

So -- maybe drain all the power from the mobo & try again ...

With the power unplugged, hold the power button in for 10 - 20 sec to drain the power & try that!?

 

@ Cmdr Chill
Try pulling your card out and reseating it, and then making sure al connections are good.
@ TomaxBlade
Sometimes, it takes a shut down and re-boot for some drivers to lock in. Sounds like this was the case here.
Glad it's fixed.
I know next to nothing about builds, so good luck and post another thread in hardware, if you can't get it running.
OPPS. you already did that LOL

 

Dont mean to revive an old thread, but I been trying to fix this problem for the past few months. I have a somewhat temp solution: Remove the battery from the mobo for a while. It fixes it, but the onboard nic disappears again within 3 weeks. Im getting tired of having to keep removing the battery.