[kellysue]

i just had to reinstall windows XP home edition on my computer after buying a new hard drive..long story short, i had installed XP Pro just yesterday cuz thats the CD my sister's boyfriend sent up with my hard drive after ordering it, but it was a copy and not a valid disk of windows so nothing would verify. now i'm back where i started with no internet connection and i dont want to do what i had to do yesterday cuz i think thats what messed everything up..under device manager, it's all ?'s and !'s in the one section where i know it's supposed to mean my whole internet connection. any help is appreciated! if you need and more info i will try to elaborate but this story is so oversaid for me that i'm getting tired of retyping it!

[etaf]

you will need to get a valid copy of windows , you will not be able to activate that copy - so even if you get it working it will stop in 30days
you are missing all the drivers, so you need to goto the PC manufacturers website put you model in and you should find all the drivers

Did you get any recovery CDs with the machine or create them when you first got the machine - if so use them - they have a valid copy of windows and all the drivers

[JohnWill]

You need the drivers for your machine. If this is a factory assembled machine like a Dell or HP, go to their site and download the proper drivers. If this is a parts machine, you probably need to go to the motherboard manufacturer for integrated network cards, and to the NIC maker for add-on cards.

[kellysue]

i just reinstalled my valid copy of windows XP Home that came with my emachine. i know how to install the drivers from the website, but the thing is i cant get connected to the internet because thats one of the drivers. i have a cd that i put in my computer when i had Pro to get some of the drivers back and i think i'm going to have to do that again. i used this website:

http://www.emachines.com/support/pro...es&model=W3118

thats my model.

[etaf]

use the machine you are connected here
download the drivers and copy across to the emachine and install

from your link - the downloads are available
if the machine has an onboard network adapters then the drivers are most likely in the Motherboard Driver Package

File Description: Motherboard Driver Package
Version:
* Ethernet NRM driver version 50.09 (WHQL)
* Network management tools version 50.09
* SMBus driver version 4.50 (WHQL)
* Installer version 4.90
* Win2K IDE SATARAID driver version 6.22 (WHQL)
* Win2K IDE SATA_IDE driver version 6.22 (WHQL)
* Win2K RAIDTOOL application version 6.22
* WinXP IDE SATARAID driver version 6.22 (WHQL)
* WinXP IDE SATA_IDE driver version 6.22 (WHQL)
* WinXP RAIDTOOL application version 6.22
Operating System: Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP
Part Number: D00447-001-001
Date: 06/25/2006

[JohnWill]

You move the drivers over from a connected machine using a CD-R/RW or a USB FLASH drive.

[kellysue]

ugh just what i had to do yesterday. alright let me see and try this. is it better to use firefox to copy files like this onto a cd or to just use internet explorer?

[etaf]

you need to download the files onto the PC - doesnt matter what you use
Then copy as johnwill said - onto a CD or USB drive
If CD - you should have a CD writer program on the PC if not - i can post some free verisions
if usb drive - use windows explorer to copy

you dont use IE or firefox to copy onto cd

tell us more what you are doing

[kellysue]

alright guys i used the same cd i copied my motherboard adapters onto yesterday and reinstalled it onto my computer yet again. i am on the internet. do i just go back to that emachine website to get the rest of my network adapters? cuz i have no sound or anything.

[etaf]

yes, you will need them all

[kellysue]

okay the problem seems to be fixed! now the thing is, how do i know if my computer has windows service pack 2 or higher? because that was the main reason i decided to reinstall Home instead of Pro..Pro wouldnt download service pack.

[etaf]

start
control panel
system
should tell you there
If not then you need to go onto the windows website and apply all updates

[kellysue]

yes it says i have service pack 2. thank you so very much!

[etaf]

if all working and no more questions - please mark solved - button at top of your first post
otherwise continue

[kellysue]

i believe i am all done..just need to find a way to get all my songs back on this PC from my ipod but thats a different story haha!