SOS! Windows could not detect a properly installed network adapter

Sub Styler said:

As TVeblem said, there is nothing you can do in windows to resusitate dead hardware. A wipe is pointless but free. I seriously doubt it would work but if you have nothing to loose but wasted hours the go for it.

Yeah I know that, but since we are not sure if this problem comes from hardware we have nothing to loose except time. I have already lost 1 day, so 30 minutes more is not an issue.
It's possible to change nothing, but what else can I do? Buy an adapter? I should do it after every other free solution I guess.

Thanks

Does anyone know if updating the BIOS could fix an onboard LAN chip not working?
I've never heard of it...just wondering if anyone knows (or thinks) this might "revive" the onboard LAN.

I'm not sure if this will help, but let's try it.
Do you have any guide on how to update my BIOS?

Did you look in your motherboard manual for BIOS update instructions?

Just to be sure you know, if a BIOS update fails, it could brick the motherboard so it will be unusable!
I normally don't recommend updating the BIOS unless it has a fix for a problem the person is having.
In this case I don't know if updating might fix your issue, I was just asking...

Format didn't work. We knew that, but it was just a test. So since we have tried everything, I will buy a network adaptor tomorrow and see what happens later...

Sub Styler said:

Flashing the BIOS is an unlikely fix unless somehow the network adapter fault corrupted the code in the BIOS. To update it you would go to the manufacturers website, download the EXACT update for your motherboard (be sure you have the correct revision of that board too) and the flash utility. I would do it from windows as it's the standard way these days. People talk of putting the flash util and update on a boot disk and doing it from boot, this is a little more complicated but a little less risky.

Do you think I should try this?