Unknown PCI Card - Device Manager

[imported_denny]

Scenario:
Lets say I have a PC which is formatted and Win XP installed.

I am trying to install the drivers for all the PCI cards in the computer. I donno who is the manufacturer of the card and i am not able to install the drivers.

Is there a possibility of me identifying a PCI card and its manufacturer without installing the drivers ?

Somewhere in the registry ... vendor ID and decode the same ?

 

[Fern]

You might try d/l'ing and installing Everest Home edition. It might tell you what all the components are even w/o their drivers.

Fern

 

[KGB]

Den,

Try pulling all cards (except for video), identifying each and getting the drivers, then putting each back one-at-a-time and installing the drivers.

This prevent any confusion.

 

[imported_denny]

Thanks for the inputs, Fern and KGBMAN.

Fern: I am gonna try the Everest Home edition.

KGBMAN: I hope you know that all the hardware component have a FCC ID or some kind of Hardware ID that might be recognised in the registry which we can decode. Because I am working for DELL. I have my techs say that customers are not comfortable opening the PCs. That too after a tiring OS reinstall, opening the tower to figure out the PCI would be by last resort. I'm just figuring if there is really someother way of figuring out the manufacturer's info so that i can install the drivers from the CD supplied from DELL.

I found infos for Windows 9x, Me and 2000.
Identifying a unknown PCI card

Need your comments on the same.

 

[imported_denny]

Thanks Again, Fern. Everest Home Edition ROCKS !

 

[Fern]

You're welcome :thumbsup:

BTW: I'm thinking that if the cards/drivers haven't been installed, no use looking in the OS registry. I'm thinking that data will be there only after the cards/drivers are installed.

Fern

 

[sivart]

if you know which card it is, pull it out and google the model number, FCC number or any other number you see. You should come back with some type of identification.

 

[imported_denny]

Fern, I do feel the same.

Siliconhills, thanks for your input.

I am gonna go ahead and figure that out practically in the Research Lab.

 

[KGB]

Den,

I wasn't aware you were looking for solutions aimed at the customers.

 

[imported_denny]

KGBMAN,

Thats ok 😉. I finally figured a way out for this in my Research Lab. I uninstalled the driver for my Conexant Data Fax Modem. After a system restart or scan for hardware changes in device manager,

Windows XP
Start - Run - Regedit - OK
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet0001\ENUM\PCI

Click on the + sign next to the folder that is similar to, VEN_xxxx&DEV_xxxx&SUBSYS_xxxxxxxx&REV_xx
(Tip: The Devices which has no drivers will be one of the first set of folders)

Highlight the subfolder and lookout for the following keys on the right pane,
Compatible ID
Hardware ID

Example
PCI\VEN_14F1&DEV_2702&SUBSYS_8D881028
So, Vendor ID is 14F1, Device ID is 2702 and SubSystem ID is 8D881028.

Then, I went to PCIDatabase.com.

I did a Vendor Search after punching in the Vendor ID. And that gave me the name of the manufacturer as Conexant.

I did a Device Search using the Device ID. That gave me a result that confused me for a while because the result said 10/100 Integrated Ethernet with the manufacturer's name as Conexant Systems Inc. Sounded like a Network Card.

I then clicked on the Conexant Systems Inc which gave me a list of its products. I did a CTRL+F on that page and searched using the Device ID. That gave me the right info, Conexant Data Fax Modem.
😎