stevic1948@yaho wrote:
> I've had problems trying to install a Lan adapter, mostly due to
> incompetence on my part. I need to remove the hardware recognition (my
> terminology!) from my laptop so that I can install the software in the
> correct order. How do I do it please?
>
> Question 2: I have downloaded the drivers from D-Link's website to a
> flash drive, where do I locate the drivers on the laptop? Do I unzip
> the folder and only transfer the specific file?
>
> Apologies for the ignorant terminology.
Generally speaking, if you don't know your way around an OS (I don't),
randomly deleting things only leads to more trouble.
Good software uses an installer, and also has uninstaller code as well.
Using such installers, usually leads to success, or an easier to
clean up mess.
Start by going to Control Panels, Add/Remove Programs, and use the
entries there, to remove anything that does not belong there. (I.e.
Whatever network stuff you've been shovelling into it.) If you
added the wrong software, that would be one way to do it. Using the
entries in Add/Remove Programs, means you are tapping into the
expertise of the person who wrote the driver package, to remove
the files and registry side effects of their install.
Ideally, the DLINK download you got, should have its own setup.exe or
similar file, in the package. They might even use InstallShield
software for example, to do a good job of installing the software.
In terms of "deleting all hardware", on my OS (Win2K), I can create
a new "hardware profile". That basically starts from scratch, when
it comes to hardware recognition. If I use that feature, it means
I may see a menu, while booting the computer, to select which
profile I want to use. By using descriptive names for the profiles,
such as "daft old profile", "clean new profile", you can keep track
of which one to use. I believe you can even delete the unwanted
profile, after you're certain your new attempts have been successful.
So once the "clean new profile" has all drivers, and no errors showing
in Device Manager, you can look up how to delete the "daft old profile".
Some of this stuff is under a registry key called "ENUM", and the
hackers way in the past, might have been to delete everything under
the Enum key. But that violates the "I don't know what I'd doing and
I could break something" rule. Stick with a little research on
hardware profiles, and you can start with a clean slate.
"HOW TO: Set Up Hardware Profiles for Laptop Computers in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308577/en-us
So, my order of execution would be:
1) Fool around with Add/Remove. Try to use a Dlink download that
has a setup.exe, instead of trying to do a low level .INF type
install.
2) Use Hardware Profiles, to start from scratch. For this to be
successful, you'd better be good at digging up drivers for
everything. You can dump some info about your computer, with
programs like Everest, if you need to create a list of what
is in there. People cannot guess about the contents of your computer
from a distance, so you have to provide some hints. The laptop
maker's web site would be a good place to look as well, but some
of those sites are just dreadful.
(Report:Report Wizard:Hardware_Related)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html (Everest free edition)
3) Start all over again. If you have a Windows installer disk, you
can do a "Repair Install" (not the Recovery Console). After that
is done, reinstall missing Service Packs. Go to Windows Update and
get security updates and patches. Install drivers after that (at
least some of them, work better if installed after the SPs). If
you are unprepared in advance (don't already have the Service Packs
on the installer CD), this could cost you a day or two work. Definitely
not something you want to do too often.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
And if the Repair Install didn't work for some reason, there is
always whatever passes for a recovery feature on your laptop.
Before major surgery, a surgeon washes up. In your case, the hygiene
issue would be to backup all valuable user files, to a backup disk.
At least then, your next posting won't be a question about
"how do I do data recovery"
Paul