Ethernet card issue

[oldlefty]

I got high speed cable internet over the weekend. I ended up going the USB connection route after problems with my Netgear 311 ethernet card install.

I installed the card and Windows found the drivers and got everything in. The card was seen with no issues in device manager. When it did the reboot it hung up for about 90 seconds. I also had some strange freezeups and crashes. When I tried to do the cable software install, it said there was no ethernet card (although it was in device manager with no issues). I called Netgear tech and my local service tech (Raj in Bombay) and he said I should download the latest drivers from the website and that would solve all my problems (I think it said so on page 276 of his manual). The disk that came with the card was dated 2003, the site drivers were rev 1.8 (I think).

I tried updating the drivers but kept getting "you have the newest drivers installed". When I would remove the card the machine would boot up like normal. I tried taking it out and reinstalling (3-4 times) and it was always the same: normal with it out, problems with it in.

I ended up going the USB route and it's been working fine, but I'd like to get the card working right. Any ideas?

(any real advantages to ethernet over USB? I have WINXP but have never installed it. Any real advantages at this point? THANKS!

Win98 2ndEd; ABIT BX6.2; 450mHz; 200MB RAM

By the way- Comcast and Motorola tech services were both great.

[juniper]

sounds like you have an IRQ conflict make sure IRQ 5 is not being used if you can remove the sound card and modem or dissable in BIOS if integrated and put NIC in and see what happens. also depending on system make sure you are not putting the card in first slot as this is usualy shared with AGP bus.

The benifit of ethernet is its faster also you can connect to a router/switch for internet and file sharing when multiple PCs are at bay(I believe ICS is junk the thought of using a PC as a router is insane to me), USB is usualy the unstable route.

[oldlefty]

Well, I did try the card in one other empty slot I had, it acted the same. While it was in I thought I saw a page in device manager that said "No IRQ conflicts". Does that confirm it? I have a few other empty slots, should I keep trying?