WinXP messes up my NIC

[Bassyhead]

Recently, when I occasionally restart XP, it shows the status icon in the system tray for my NIC even though in the connection properties I set it not to display the icon. Also, on boot, WinXP shows the network device (I'm using an nForce motherboard) enabled in the device manager even though in properties it's disabled somehow on startup. It will work if I enable it but the system tray icon still doesn't work correctly. I think this is an OS problem because it worked fine for the several months since I built this system. I am using the latest drivers.

 

[cleverhandle]

Not entirely understanding your setup... You have two network cards - an add-on and an onboard? Or only one?

 

[Bassyhead]

Sorry if I wasnt clear, my only network interface is the onboard ethernet. It functions fine, but WinXP always displays the network connection icon in the system tray, regardless of whether in the connection properties I check it to display or not. Also, when WinXP starts up, the device is always disabled in the device manager, yet the properties for the device show it's enabled.