Right click The Mycomputer Icon on the desktop or in the start menu choose properties when the window opens click the hardware Tab now in Device Manger look for "Network Adapter" to the left of it click the (+) sign to expand the list. Please provide the full name of it. Like (Realtek rlt831/8/10 fast Ethernet) something like that..

See if you can get that going first.

You actually can try right clicking on the Adapter Name, now choose uninstall from the options listed then reboot. Windows should detect new hardware and may install it. Chances are it will not find it, so give us the name of it.

Did the XP cd include Service Pack2?

Once you get connected you need to visit the windows up-Date page.

zep
Under device manager "other devices" breaks down to show "Ethernet controller", right clicking that under properties, the only description is other devices, Manufacturer is unknown. The device status box says that the "drivers for this device are not installed. [Code 28]" None of the options, Reinstall Driver, etc., are fruitful.
The original CD did not contain SP2.

Tick man is this a self build or store bought? If self built is the LAN a separate card or built into the motherboard?

Self built is as much as it is not a name brand, Dell, HP or the like. It was put together by a computer shop about 120 miles south of where I now live.

Sorry for the inadvertent link, don't know if it was caused by Thunderbird or WIN7,

Something else you could try......

Click all programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, In there look for System Information. On the left side click components look for Network under network click "Adapter" see what's in there. The first line should be the Network Adapter you would need a driver for, that is if it's listed.

You might use System Information for Windows to find out the make and model of the LAN card or the motherboard if built in as it likely is. Then visit the maker's site and grab all the drivers - LAN, sound, IDE and what ever else and keep those in a separate folder after updating your computer in case of future needs.

zep
The first of 7 listed is: RAS Async Adapter

owbist
Under System Summary-Hardware Resources-I/O There is an Ethernet Controller listed at a system (?) address.

If there were network cards installed, System Information for windows should list them.

Click the Motherboard option and get the name or # of it.

Or buy a network card cheap and install it on the motherboard, that's always an option.

Lets see what owbist has....

zep
I've found nothing at all about network cards. In the system info I did find an Ethernet Controller. It is listed under PNP Device ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1050&SUBSY
Don't know if that is helpful info or not.

No! That's the controller on the mother board. Controls the adapter the thing we are looking for....

What about Mother Board, there should be a thing on that System Information Program about motherboard it might give us the make or Some #

Click Start, Control panel, System, Hardware, Device manager. Now look for yellow exclamation marks or question marks. These indicate problem areas where the drivers are missing or corrupt perhaps.

As Zep notes you need to click on the motherboard on the left side of your screen in SIW and the data will appear on the right side. Grab the make and model of the motherboard and Google for drivers. Try to go to the mobo maker's site rather than any third party site. More chance of getting the right drivers that way.

You can also look on the back of your tower, if the CAT5 network cable connects beside the USB ports then you have onboard LAN.

owbist, zep,
I will work on getting SIW in that system tomorrow. The ethernet cable does plug in by 2 USB ports.

Is it not recognizing the network connection or is it not connecting to your ISP? You probably had a username and password set up to log you in to the ISP and when you reloaded, you lost that.

Go to Start/Run and enter cmd. When the command prompt shows up, type the following:
ipconfig

You should see something like this:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.40
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Paste the output from ipconfig here and we can try to figure out the next steps.

I refer to gizmo's site for the lists of good free stuff and he does have a list for the best places to find drivers.
Free Driver Sites
Of course when you can go directly to your device manufacturers site and find it that is usually your best option.

did you not have a disc with your pc for your drivers to be able to reinstall if you needed to, with the recovery stuff?

another good tool to use to scan the pc for what is in it is belarc
Belarc

My thanks to all for helping. A neighbor I don't know very well is a computer guru and after about thirty minutes tinkering he ran a CD of his and I'm on the net. I know so little about computers to start with that I'm not sure exactly what he did except that he installed some software that took care of the problem. Most of the evening was spent updating MS.
Thanks again.