Missing drivers (XP Pro)

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I did a clean install on a relative’s computer, formerly 98SE. It appears several bits of hardware weren’t ID’d properly, as evidenced by the s in Device Manager:

Ethernet Controller
Multimedia Audio Controller
Video Controller (VGA compatible)

It appears he wasn’t given CDs with the original box. An old Belarc reports

1. Intel 82845G Graphics controller
2. Realtek AC’97 Audio
3. Intel PRO/100 VE Network Connection

I can d/l an XP driver for 1. but I’m not sure what path I need to follow to fix up the rest. At the moment, the display is stuck on 640 x 480 very low color, and there’s no (DSL) internet of course. Are there any generic alternatives? If not, what’s the most reliable hardware detection program I could run from a boot CD?

thanks
Alan

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Not had to deal with this problem since XP came along, so I don’t know the answer, Alan. I just wonder though, as loaded with drivers as XP is, if it just “missed” a few in the rush and what would happen if you gave it a second chance? I’m talking Add New Hardware app in Control Panel. If it doesn’t help, it will only take a few minutes to find out.

I’ll keep looking…

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I did give the detect hardware route a go – several times – but just went round in circles. Not knowing exactly what’s there doesn’t help, but I couldn’t even get that far. All I got was nothing detected, then the option to provide my own drivers. I’ve located some drivers for all three items, but it’s yet to be seen if these are correct/ accepted. Now I’m wondering if there’s a way to search the driver CAB files on the CD.

Alan

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It’s generally best to go to the manufacturers web site, rather than looking for generic drivers.
Is this a laptop or a desktop PC?
What manufacturer and model is it?

StuartR

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I’ve managed to glean some more info from his purchase receipt:

INTEL CELERON 2.53GHZ Processor
INTEL Motherboard
512MB DDR400 RAM
40GB Hard Drive
PC Tower 400W POWER

Nothing specific about graphics card though. I don’t know if it’s “on board” or just not specified.

Alan

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I think XP is supposed to search Zip or Cab files, but I can’t verify. (Prevent Windows XP from searching inside ZIP and CAB files, without breaking Windows XP’s native ZIP / CAB support)

If not, perhaps an evaluation copy of: ZipScan : Search Zip files, Search CAB files

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Googling on your #2, exactly as you wrote it, yields a bunch of hits and what seems like various levels of driver. Some of the links I tried don’t seem to work, but you might give this one a look-see: Download Realtek AC’97 Audio Driver v3.96

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Alan,
The items 1 & 2 sound like a pair that Gigabyte had used for a long time on their MBs. Is it a Gigabyte board?
If so, Gigabyte has a very good collection of drivers for it’s 845G equipped MBs along with the AC97 sound drivers.
Check GIGABYTE

Is that a built in NIC for the network connection? If so, can you disable it and plug in a very inexpensive add on card?

I think that System Information (SWI) is one of the better system hardware-software detection progs around. It does run stand alone but not sure if it run from a boot CD. Most probably it will.

SIW

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This is kinda odd. He bought it from the same place that built mine. Mine runs Gigabyte K7 Triton mobo and those drivers sounded familiar. However, his is “described” as all INTEL – post 626,724. The closest match I’ve found is #1 here.

I’m pretty sure it’s just a plain ol’ ethernet card for home user DSL connection to internet… nothing special there.

Alan

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Just go to the Intel site and download the needed drivers. I just installed 2 of the three listed (audio and ethernet) on an Alienware area-51. It is best if you know the chipset and motherboard so download and run CPU-Z found here http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php%5B/url%5D and it will provide all the info you need without installing anything.

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Yep, I’ll probably end up doing just that. It bothered me that XP didn’t pick up Intel hardware. Even a complete reinstall attempt failed again. Anyway, tomorrow I’ll be off to the shop where he bought it for some answers. The CPUZ progam is a good one, but his display is so bad I doubt its interface will even be readable. I might have to try something like NSSI or AIDA for DOS.

Alan

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Alan,

Sorry, I did not understand: after you download and run your drivers

Network Adapter Driver for Windows* 2000, Windows* XP and Windows* 2003 Server
Intel

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