Geek help required!! :)

[candlestick]

Morning all,

I am more than likely going to start and put our office back together this weekend after a fair bit of building work. I’ve got a wireless network set up using a bog standard Netgear router, which has been plugged into the main phone socket downstairs since we started tearing the house apart. Prior to that I had it plugged in upstairs and hardwired into the PC but I used to find that my Xbox 360 signal would drop out far to frequently, so I actually bought a Wireless PC card which I hoped would solve the problem – ie plug the router in downstairs, get a decent wireless signal for my Xbox and if I get an intermittent signal on the PC, so what!! Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get the card running on my last attempt. My PC/motherboard is this http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/advent/pc/t9201.htmand for some reason, the computer wouldn’t recognise the card in the top spare slot, and in the bottom spare slot it just crashed the computer. I put a cheap standard hardwired network card in just after I’d bought it, but I’m sure I took it out last time I tried, and still experienced the same problems.

Any ideas how to get it working, anyone (I should say this is basically a backup/download PC as we’ve got a laptop too).

Cheers peeps!!

 

[hashcake]

What make PCI wireless card have you bought?
Depending on the brand, you need to install the supplied software before installing the card itself.

 

[Richard King]

what is your PC like with other USB / USB2 devices. is the PC vista and the device for XP (or visa versa)?

 

[The_Bulb]

What operating system are you using?

I would find it hard to believe that there is a compatibility issue with the motherboard and the PCI card, it is more likely that the operating system is not recognising the card.

My normal procedure for this (on an XP machine) would be to install the card, let windows find the new hardware and then install the driver disk. Once this was done, go to control panel / system / device manager and check the driver is installed and working correctly. If the card has a yellow symbol next to it in device manager, then it means that windows is not recognising the hardware.

On older machines where windows didn't have wireless network management, Win 95 etc you had to install a windows wireless management bit of software and driver to handle the wireless network and it's security encryption before you installed the card.

 

[candlestick]

I'm using XP, not sure about the brand of the card, will have a look!!

 

[hashcake]

what is your PC like with other USB / USB2 devices. is the PC vista and the device for XP (or visa versa)?

It sounds like he is trying to intall a PCI card and not a USB device.

 

[hashcake]

What operating system are you using?

I would find it hard to believe that there is a compatibility issue with the motherboard and the PCI card, it is more likely that the operating system is not recognising the card.

If he is refering to a PCI wireless card it probably isn't a compatibility issue.
Wireless PCI card (depending on the make) quite often won't be recognised by device manager unless the drivers are installed first, PC powered down and then fit the card.

 

[hashcake]

I'm using XP, not sure about the brand of the card, will have a look!!

Did you read the instructions supplied with the card?
Does it say 'please install the software before installing the card' ?

 

[candlestick]

It's a PCI card, and I followed the instructions (I think it was software first, then install card if I remember rightly), but as I said, it was either a computer that wouldn't boot up (bottom motherboard slot) or not recognising the card at all (top motherboard slot)

 

[candlestick]

Got it working!! It wasn't making contact properly with the motherboard slot, as it had a terrible kink in it. In then end, I had to hacksaw a bit of the card off to make it fit!!??

Cheers for the the suggestions though!!