Missing network adapter, but device manager OK

Kalgan99 · 18 May 2011

Hi all. A very weird problem just happens to my desktop, I hope anyone could help me to avoid a complete reinstall.

It was working fine, I didn't install or change nothing (mostly is used as MediaCenter). It was working perfectly without any change for months. Then I shutdown one day as always, and when I reboot the next day no network is present.

The PC is an Acer Aspire X3900 desktop with an integrated intel NIC. This is what I have seen:

In the W7 network configuration panel there isn't any NIC present.
IPCONFIG shows nothing, no adapter is listed (is not like when you unplug the network cable and the adapter is listed buy without the IPs; now the command shows nothing at all).
But, and that is the weird thing, in device manager all seems fine. The Intel NIC is listed without any warning mark. Looking the properties, all looks ok.

This is what I had already try:

I reinstalled the NIC drivers. No changes.
Reinstalled the chipset drivers. No changes.
Uninstalled NIC drivers with an Intel utility. Then I rebooted and reinstalled the drivers when windows detected the new hw. No changes.
Disabled the NIC adapter in device manager, reboot and re-enable. No changes.
Uninstalled the NIC adapter in device manager. Reboot and re-install the drivers when windows detect the new hw. No changes.
Disabled the NIC adapter in BIOS. Boot windows, shutdown, re-enable the adapter in BIOS, and reboot. Reinstall the drivers. No change.
Recover the system from an old recover point, but no change.

I still have not any network adapter present in windows network configuration panel, or listed with IPCONFIG. I think some windows network component must be damaged, but that is beyond my W7 knoledge.

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot in advance.

fafhrd · 19 May 2011

Network adapters sometimes fail. It may be due to some electrical disturbance which induces a surge in the cable, which knocks out a component in the NIC, but the rest of the card thinks it is working properly. A diode or capacitor failure perhaps.

Google USB Ethernet adaptor. Prices start less than £10 UK.

Try a replacement for the card - it won't break the bank. I assume that you would need a USB connection? It doesn't even have to be an exact replacement - any recognized mainstream brand of the right specifications should do. Just take a note of the MAC address of the old card - ipconfig /all from the command prompt, and note the physical address. It may be important for your broadband connection. You may need to disable the onboard NIC in the bios.

Kalgan99 · 31 May 2011

Sorry for not answering before. Last week I was reinstalling windows and all the applications. The problem was resolved reinstalling windows, so it wasn't an adapter problem.

pricetech · 31 May 2011

I was going to suggest an IP stack problem. Just guesswork now though.

Glad you got it fixed.