Why wont my computer connect to the internet

[removeduser_487563287433]

So... I've got this internet cable you see. Now, there's nothing wrong with the cable. If it gets jammed into my brother's or my own laptop then it quite happily sprays the internet into it. But if it gets shoved into my desktop computer, nothing happens whatsoever. I've tinkered about with it a bit but frankly my ability with computers is limited. Tell me what to do.

[Doono]

Make sure you have your ethernet drivers installed.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Push the cable into the PC manually and hard, and see if it works while you're doing that. If so, its a problem with that port that you're putting the cable into.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Ugh, nope, nothing's working.

[Doono]

Did you do what i said? Take your motherboard driver cd and reinstall the ethernet drivers. This is probably the problem. If it works in other comps it's not related to anything but the system it's not working on.

[Freddie]

Do you see any lights come on at the back when you plug in the cable?

[removeduser_487563287433]

Do you see any lights come on at the back when you plug in the cable?

Only the amber one. I have a horrible horrible suspicion that I have installed just a wireless network card and not a normal one.

[sapi]

Only the amber one. I have a horrible horrible suspicion that I have installed just a wireless network card and not a normal one.

That can't be it - there's no place to plug a cord into on a wireless card

[Freddie]

Only the amber one. I have a horrible horrible suspicion that I have installed just a wireless network card and not a normal one.

There should be a green light as well. Don't worry network cards are only £10 these days.

edit:I've looking at the Asustek website and they have the worst support section of any motherboard manufacturer I've ever seen. I’ve tried looking for the Ethernet drivers but I can’t find any reference to them all I could find was chipset drivers, audio drivers, manuals and BIOS updates.

[Simetrical]

Could also be a bad network card. Do you have any other Internet connections handy to test with? It's unlikely to be anything's fault but your computer's, but if it's always possible that it's something subtler. Don't worry about it if you don't have extra connections handy, though.

[sapi]

You wouldn't be trying to use an incompatible connection, would you?

They should all be backwards compatible, but you never know...

[Erik]

go to: start->settings->network connections.

There should be a list of all your present network connections (could be none), as well as a "Network Setup wizard" and "New connection wizard".

Is "Local Area Network" listed?
If not, then you'll need to install the ethernet driver from a CD-ROM that came with your PC, or use the "New connection wizard" to install a standard ethernet driver.
If so, then check if its working by right-clicking and selecting "status"
If it's not working then you might have to re-install the driver

If the "Local Area Network" connection is working, but you still can't connect to the internet trough it, then you might have to "tell" windows to use the LAN as your internet connection.
You can use the "Network Setup Wizard" for this.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Ah, but it's not plugged into the network card it's plugged into the motherboard.

So I decided to try and update the motherboard's drivers... unfortunately I seem to have every single disk for my computer except the one that belongs to the motherboard. I went on the manufacturer's website, but had no idea what to download, and am not even sure how to use the one I did.

Motherboard is an ASUS socket 939 A8N-SLI SE

Help!

[removeduser_487563287433]

So it's definately the lack of a network card?

[Freddie]

So it's definately the lack of a network card?

From what you have said it sounds like the network card is at fault. On my last computer the Ethernet port died after a but buying a new network card wasn’t a problem at all since they are so cheap.

[Erik]

So it's definately the lack of a network card?

You don't need a network card because your motherboard has a build-in network controller.

It's just a matter of getting this network controller to work, and telling windows to use this network controller for your internet connection.

Try to find that disk, or try to find the right drivers from your mobo's website.

[Freddie]

You don't need a network card because your motherboard has a build-in network controller.

It's just a matter of getting this network controller to work, and telling windows to use this network controller for your internet connection.

Try to find that disk, or try to find the right drivers from your mobo's website.

He can't find the disk and the website is rubbish (+ rep if you can find the driver I sure as hell can't I never seen such a poor site, the nearest there is a chipset driver but I'm not sure if that's what he needs I think the Chipset drivers deal with Southbridge communications and data between Mobo and HD and optical drives).

I'm more worried by the fact that only an amber light is showing on your Ethernet port, are sure their is no green light? Even if his drivers weren't work as they should be if the cable is plugged in and connected to the other device and the PC is on both green and amber light should be on.

[Erik]

the nearest there is a chipset driver but I'm not sure if that's what he needs

That's the one he needs, +1 rep for me

This nForce WinXP 64-bit driver package contains the below components:

Audio driver version 4.62 (WHQL)
Audio utility version 4.51
Ethernet NRM driver version 4.82 (WHQL)
Network management tools version 4.85
SMBus driver version 4.48 (WHQL) with updated uninstaller files
Installer version 4.77
WinXP IDE PATARAID driver version 5.34
WinXP IDE SATARAID driver version 5.34 (WHQL)
WinXP IDE SATA_IDE driver version 5.34 (WHQL)
WinXP RAIDTOOL application version 4.82

Unfortunately I can't provide a direct link, but you can find it under "others" once you selected your product in the "download" section.

I'm more worried by the fact that only an amber light is showing on your Ethernet port, are sure their is no green light? Even if his drivers weren't work as they should be if the cable is plugged in and connected to the other device and the PC is on both green and amber light should be on.

My ethernet light is flashing amber too, and it's working just fine.

All ethernet cards I've ever seen only had one light.
In the olden days they were red, but in modern days they can be all kinds of colors (not necessarily green).

[sapi]

So I decided to try and update the motherboard's drivers... unfortunately I seem to have every single disk for my computer except the one that belongs to the motherboard. I went on the manufacturer's website, but had no idea what to download, and am not even sure how to use the one I did.

Motherboard is an ASUS socket 939 A8N-SLI SE

Help!

Ditch checking the manufacturer's website; they don't have what you want.

You need to google the motherboard, find out the chipset, and go to that website to grab the drivers (eg. my mobo is a gigabyte whatever, but as the chipset's a nvidia nforce 4, the drivers are provided by nvidia)

[Erik]

Ditch checking the manufacturer's website; they don't have what you want.

I just proved that they do.
It's called the "chipset driver" and it can be found easily in the download section.