Network card unknown in Device Manager?

[Andvari]

What would cause my friend's NIC in her Dell Dimension 4600 to suddenly become unrecognized by her computer, after she had done nothing to it other than unplug it for the weekend?

I checked her computer out to see if I could fix it. I checked ipconfig and not only did she not have an IP address, it displayed NOTHING as if she didn't even have a network card. I went to the Device Manager, and her network card was listed as unknown. I went to update the driver, and it found a driver and installed it and said to restart. Restarted, but it was still listed as unknown. I got on my computer and downloaded the drivers for the NIC from the Dell website, installed them, restarted, and it was still unknown.

What's going on here? Her internet was working Friday, she shuts down and unplugs her computer, she leaves for the weekend and comes back Monday, plugs her computer back in, and now her NIC is unrecognized. That doesn't make any sense.

Is this by chance a hardware issue, and somehow her NIC died when she plugged her computer back in?

 

[jackschmittusa]

Not sure why, since it was unplugged, but it sure sounds like it is dead. If the nic was still connected to router or modem that was powered, a spike could have fried it from there.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

although it is possible to fry a nic it seems highly unlikely.

did it happen to get disabled in the network connections section?

btw what os/service pack she runnin?

 

[jackschmittusa]

RelaxTheMind

I've seen several dead nics. Company my wife works for lost 2, plus a router and a cable modem all in one crack over a weekend. They were pretty frantic with no network and no internet. Was just a matter of replacing the blown out gear. I tested all of the gear at home that I replaced, and it was in fact, bad. (Actualy, thinking about it, the cable company tested the modem and said it was bad - gave me another one.)

 

[Andvari]

She is running WinXP Home, and I'm fairly sure it's SP2. And she said she unplugged EVERYTHING, but I wonder....

Also, in the network connections, it said:

Device Unavailable, Firewalled


So, it wasn't disabled there.

 

[helpmeout]

I just got rid of my 4600 about 4 months ago, but I believe it originally came with onboard NIC. I had a lot of problems with it, and put in a card. Try a card if her's is onboard.

 

[hertz9753]

I would try unpplugging the power to the router or modem and plugging it back in with the computer off.

 

[RelaxTheMind]

Originally posted by: jackschmittusa
RelaxTheMind

I've seen several dead nics. Company my wife works for lost 2, plus a router and a cable modem all in one crack over a weekend. They were pretty frantic with no network and no internet. Was just a matter of replacing the blown out gear. I tested all of the gear at home that I replaced, and it was in fact, bad. (Actualy, thinking about it, the cable company tested the modem and said it was bad - gave me another one.)

noted.

although... i was going by the fact that everything was unplugged to begin with. could be static discharge or something when plugging it in.

Id say try getting a new pci nic. $5 bin at a local computer shop if u have one. Or $20-free with rebates at most retail stores.

Edit: was this an onboard NIC? if try to reseat it. sometimes they come loose from all the pluging and unplugging.