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Computer hangs installing new hardware

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by true_texan 1 view

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Computer specs: Intel Celeron 766, 128 mg ram, 20G hard drive (w/ 13G free), running WinMe, 97% resources free on startup.

I have run Norton scandisk, defrag, and antivirus.

All hardware appears to be operating correctly (floppy, CD ROM, modem - with no conflicts). I am attempting to install new PCI NIC card (D-Link 10/100). Installing drivers fails when using "Add Hardware wizard" as with PNP autodetection. While copying files, the computer pegs the processor at 100% and never completes the installation.

I did notice that when Windows first recognized the new device, the "updating of the hardware database" was EXTREMELY slow (at least an hour).

I took out the NIC card, and reinstalled WinME over existing copy. While trying to install critical updates, computer again hangs with CPU at 100% - never completing any installs, but never crashing.

No virus activity has been found by Norton. No system or registry problems have been found either.

I've tried different NICs with the same results (won't work in this PC but works in other PCs fine).

I'm now totally lost and have run out of ideas. Got any? HELP!

9 replies

by dmiles

Try to manually install the NIC card,by selecting to select device from list,after selecting the device,click have disk,if it ask for the files,select the nic and the driver,then click Ok.

by true_texan

I already tried this and the same thing happens. The CPU utilization goes to 100% and when I check the progress in the task monitor it says the task is not responding. Thanks though. Please try again if you can think of anything else. I've run out of ideas!

by true_texan

Well, thanks for the try again... We had thought of this also, so we put the NIC card in a P350 (a slower machine than we're trying to use in the first place) and it works fine - without overly taxing the CPU. We also removed the NIC card and still have the problem during hardware detection (same problem - second verse?) We're really NOT wanting to reformat the ladies' drive, but this may be our next option. Any other ideas?

by paul d. masley

Norton can be a pain when installing a NIC. Norton considers any system writes as an intrusion. I bet if you disable Norton, and any other startup programs but the basics, you will be able to install the NIC with no problems.

Paul.

by true_texan

I had taken this into consideration also and was unable to install the Windows updates or the NIC card. Thanks for trying!

by pierrejamme

Have you tried a 3COM NIC? They have a pre-install program that you run before installing any hardware, so Windows knows it is coming. I agree witht he comments on Norton, I would disable it whenever installing anything.

by true_texan

I haven't tried a 3COM NIC, but I don't think the hardware has anything to do it. The system itself is having problems. Even with ALL add-in cards taken out, it takes forever to rebuild the Driver Information Database. The system is recognizing both cards, and PNP correctly detecting them; however, when it tries to copy the driver files, something is causing the process to hang.

I think a system file may be hosed since it wont apply the Windows Update. Thanks for your thoughts.

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