Look for Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection
Check the GUI interface as mentioned also, maybe that will be easier.
Need basic, not expensive, cable modem for new internet connection
- Thread starter John Galt III
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Check the GUI interface as mentioned also, maybe that will be easier.
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John Galt III
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I don't see 'Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection' anywhere on my control panel screens. The only time the word 'ethernet' appears for me is when I click start, system info, and some more clicks, I get a description of my fast pci ethernet adapter. Also no mention of 'Local area connection' on my screens. Just 'local area network' and LAN.
Does your network adapter show under device manager with no flags?
And under Network and Sharing Center when you click Change Adapter Settings?
Maybe you need to install the drivers.
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John Galt III
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I looked through my notes of what I have done to this Win 7 computer in the past. Went into BIOS and saw some interesting stuff. Under 'onboard pci devices' it has 'onboard LAn [disabled]. And 'AC97 Modem Controller [auto]'. Under 'boot' it has 'plug and play O/S [NO]. Shouldn't plug and play be set to YES so I can auto detect stuff like modems? And shouldn't onboard LAN be enabled ? Maybe that's why I'm not seeing much LAN info, like 'Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection' .
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Ok, you didn't mention if you checked those things I asked about. But one possibility was the network interface disabled in BIOS if it's not showing in those locations.
If the computer is using the embedded network interface vs. an added interface, then set that to enabled. It would normally already be enabled, so I you or previous owner must have changed that at some point.
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Under network adapters in device manager I see 10 entries and none of them is flagged. But my sis 900 ethernet is not listed there at all. When I click 'change adapter settings' it says nothing about an ethernet adapter. It just shows an icon for 'Broadband Connection WAN miniport (PPPOE)' with a green checkmark on it. I can right click on that icon and then click on properties, and get a check list of ipv6, ipv4, printer, etc, but no mention of any adapters.
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I don't know if it is embedded or added. Which setting are you talking about enabling? 'PCI devices / Onboard LAN' ?
You didn't mention whether you enabled the network interface in BIOS yet after finding it disabled. Do that, and it might find it automatically on reboot and finally show up.
On board LAN needs to be enabled. An added one would be if you or the previous owner had added a card or external adapter rather than using the embedded (on-board) one.
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Thanks. ( OP lies stretched out on beach, waves lapping at his feet, exhausted, but alive. He rises, goes to his keyboard, and types) I went into bios and enabled onboard LAN, rebooted, and a new icon appeared under 'change adapter settings'. I clicked on it, and it gave me some positive looks, then I somehow got into troubleshooter, and it said I needed to just plug in an ethernet cable. So I did, and wham, google was found, and I could pick up websites. Whoa ! I poked around in the screens and the stuff people were asking about was showing up finally. Like lease start date, etc, and now my 900 ethernet adapter shows up in device manager. So all good there. But it was as slow as molasses. And I noticed from the network box that I was downloading an awful lot of bytes or bits. Maybe that's normal, but to err on the side of caution, I shut it down. I unplugged the ethernet cable, and started it up gain, and there's no obvious problem, like a virus popup or anything, so I guess I'm OK. It had downloaded 45 meg and uploaded 1 meg when I shut it down. Why all the downloading? And why so slow?
45 MB of download traffic is pretty minimal. That's nothing to be concerned about.
You didn't specify what things are slow. If you're referring to the internet, you can check your speed with speedtest.net
Being an older computer with an older processor, standard hard drive, and 2 GB RAM, it's not exactly going to be super responsive to use.
I still recommend a router for security. But if you really want to use this thing much, you might want to upgrade to something newer, even a $200 refurb desktop from Amazon that someone mentioned in one of these recent computer threads would be a big step up and get you on a supported OS. I don't know that you would want to get involved upgrading the current computer's RAM, drive to SSD, and OS along with costs involved vs. just getting something better that's ready to go.
You won't receive updates for Windows 7, and even Chrome no longer updates to current releases for Windows 7. Firefox extended support release will only provide updates through Sept of this year.
You didn't specify what things are slow. If you're referring to the internet, you can check your speed with speedtest.net
Being an older computer with an older processor, standard hard drive, and 2 GB RAM, it's not exactly going to be super responsive to use.
I still recommend a router for security. But if you really want to use this thing much, you might want to upgrade to something newer, even a $200 refurb desktop from Amazon that someone mentioned in one of these recent computer threads would be a big step up and get you on a supported OS. I don't know that you would want to get involved upgrading the current computer's RAM, drive to SSD, and OS along with costs involved vs. just getting something better that's ready to go.
You won't receive updates for Windows 7, and even Chrome no longer updates to current releases for Windows 7. Firefox extended support release will only provide updates through Sept of this year.
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