Unresponsive desktop may be realted to Ethernet adapter problem

About a week ago, I went to use my computer (HP Pavilion desktop, 1.6 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 768 MB RAM, Windows XP OS) and it was unresponsive and the taskbar had no icons in it (START button or anything – it was just a blue line. Since I leave my system on all the time, I thought it might need to be restarted - it has worked fine up until then. I rebooted and the same thing happened. The taskbar was just a blue - no START icon or any others in it, although the usual desktop icons were there but inactive. I could move the mouse, but nothing happened when I clicked on a desktop icon. I called a local comp repair shop. The technician came and picked up the CPU. He had it for hours and called me saying it was working perfectly. He brought it back and when I started it up, the same thing happened - blank taskbar, unresponsive icons. I called the tech again and told him what happened. He came back and looked at the computer. He said it must be one of the peripherals, so he systematically unplugged each in turn. Come to find out, when he unplugged the Ethernet adapter, the system worked. Then he plugged it back in the USB port and it was fine. It has worked until today when I had had to restart the computer after updating Adobe reader. And the same thing happened - blank taskbar and unresponsive icons. I remembered what the technician did, so I did that also and I was able to re-establish my Internet connection. It doesn't seem to me I should have to go through all these gyrations when starting up. I have cable internet service and Computer Associates Security Suite - anti-virus, firewall and anti-spam. The modem is a Motorola SB 5101 and the Ethernet adapter is a RealTek RTL 8150. What could be wrong with my computer to have this sudden problem?

 

This may be worth a shot first, but make sure that you do this in the exact order stated

1. Go here and download the driver that corresponds to your OS and save it to your desktop. IMPORTANT do not run it yet.

2. Unplug your USB adapter

3. Once the driver is on the desktop for the PC open Device Manager.
Click on Start
Right click on My Computer
Click on the Hardware Tab
Click on Device Manager

4. Find Network Adapters and click on the plus symbol to expand that part of the tree.

5. Right click on Realtek RTL8150 and click Uninstall

6. You should get prompted and asked whether you wish to delete the driver or just uninstall it. Click Delete the Driver. This will remove the driver from your PC and all associated network settings that could be causing problems

7. Close all open windows and double click on the driver installer on your desktop. This will install the latest driver for your network card. Follow the instructions then plug your USB Adapter back in.

8. Plug in your cable to start the connection working.

If you still have problems after this then your adapter is probably malfuntioning. You can replace it for about £15-20