[Darryl6052]

Acer TravelMate 4230 Windows XP SP3 2 years old.

When I turned the laptop on after using it for over 12months I recieved this message:

Found New Hardware

"Network and Computing Encryption/Decryption Controller"

It has something to do with the missing Network Adaptor and yes I tried installing all the latest Acer Network Lan Drivers.

Re-imaging the laptop to Acers original image did not fix the problem.

It is not finding the normal network adaptor which a network cable plugs into.

It only finds the Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection which works with no problems.

I have tried everything but can not find the answer, Acer told me it was to do with the Windows drivers ???

Can anyone assist

Thanks

Darryl

[JohnWill]

The fact that re-imaging it to the original Acer image didn't fix it would seem to remove software as the issue.

I'd consider checking the BIOS settings for the NIC and see if something odd appears there. Let's also see this:


Hold the Windows key and press R, then type devmgmt.msc

Please respond to all the following steps.

1. Under Network adapters, please tell me all the devices listed.
2. Are there any devices under Network adapters that have a red x displayed?
3. Also, are there any devices anywhere in the Device Manager display with yellow ? or ! displayed?

[Darryl6052]

Hello John,

Thankyou for your assistance.

1. DIOS check NIC what is NIC there is nothing in the BIOS NIC.
2. Network Adaptors: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection. (The wirless works OK)
3. No Adaptors with x displayed.
4. Other Devices ? Network and Computing Encryption/Decryption Controller

John for some reason its not finding the normal network adaptor for a network cable, which is very strange.

I would almost bet that this " Network and Computing Encryption/Decryption Controller" refers to the normal lan network adaptor.

I have tried everything but have been unable to solve it and ACER were not much help.

The AcertravelMate 4230 is not 2 yrs old.

Looking Fwd to your help and reply,

Darryl

[JohnWill]

It sounds like the NIC is either disabled in the BIOS or it may have died. Not sure that the Network and Computing Encryption/Decryption Controller is, but that's not how the normal NIC should appear!

Did you install the chipset driers and THEN the network drivers?

[Darryl6052]

Hello again John,

Yes I did install the latest chipset driver then the network driver.

John what does NIC stand for so I can see if it is in the BIOS.

Thanks

Darryl

[JohnWill]

Network Interface Card. It should be in the Embedded I/O menu or similar.

[Darryl6052]

Network Interface Card. It should be in the Embedded I/O menu or similar

Hello again,

There is no reference to this at all in the BIOS.

It is a Phoenix BIOS Setup Utility Version V3.03
VGA BIOS Version: Intel V1377

Darryl

[JohnWill]

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[Darryl6052]

Hello John,
Thanks for sticking with it,here are the results of ipconfig/all.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : acer-fd6b6b72e3
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-DE-70-21-DE


Darryl

[Pollex]

Hello Darryl,

Did you happen to install Service Pack 3 recently? I've been noticing funny reactions to my clients computers at my job after they have upgraded. Just curious.

You could try either uninstalling your current drivers in your "Network adapters" category, or running the command "ipconfig /renew" (without quotes) in the command prompt which resets all your network adapters.

Or you can try using the "netsh winsock reset" command also in the command prompt which also resets some goodies for you.

There is a program called WinSockXp Fix located here http://www.snapfiles.com/get/winsockxpfix.html that's basically a magic network utility.

I would also suggest that you uninstall anything located in the "Other devices" category in your Device Manager. This is because whatever you have in there, is not installed correctly, and needs to go anyway. If after a fresh reboot these drivers are still installed into "Other devices" you most likely have a faulty card.

You could also try a "Selective Startup" to see if any programs/services that are starting may be affecting you.

If you have any problems removing anything out of the Device Manager (like your computer stalls out), try going into Safe Mode to perform the uninstall.

Here is the link for you to download all of your needed drivers, something you seem to already have.
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers...k/tm_4230.html

But, have you actually tried just uninstalling those drivers and rolling back to the originals that came with your computer? You said you put it back to the original image, but was that actually made when it was working correctly? If they worked fine before, a fresh set of those could be your trick also, if it is not broken/loose.

And here's for my last long shot of the evening... I should be asleep, have you tried that cable in another computer to make sure its feeding through correctly?

Oh wait, one more... hah. Have you removed your laptop battery in a while? If it is removable, take it out for a few minutes to ensure that the electricity has discharged, then place back into your computer. Sometimes "dirty electricty" can do wacky things.

Hope your problems are soon fixed.

[JohnWill]

Actually, the proper stack repair for XP-SP2/SP3 is as follows, you should NOT use the WINSOCKFIX previously recommended.

In any case, fixing the WINSOCK won't fix this issue, since the NIC isn't recognized by Windows at all.




TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands.

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.

[Darryl6052]

Actually, the proper stack repair for XP-SP2/SP3 is as follows, you should NOT use the WINSOCKFIX previously recommended.

In any case, fixing the WINSOCK won't fix this issue, since the NIC isn't recognized by Windows at all.

TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows XP with SP2/SP3.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Note: Type only the text in bold for the following commands.

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults, type: netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults, type: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reboot the machine.

Hello John,

Completed above no change.

It looks like I may have to send it to Acer and who knows what that will cost lol,as no other technicians have been able to come up with a solution for my problem.

If you have any other ideas I would be only to happy to try them.

I have never seen this problem before and it is very unusuall for a 2 yr old laptop not to reconise the normal lan adaptor.

The laptop does reconise something because it keeps looking for the driver Network and Computing Encryption/decryption Controller under other devices.

Darryl

[Darryl6052]

Thanks for your input

Darryl