Windows
XP, 2000 and ME - Just add a PnP network card and reboot.
Windows XP, 2000 and ME can detect most PnP network cards on the market
today, and installs the drivers automatically, without fuss and agony. It is close to
the idea of "plug-and-surf".
If you have a new machine with a factory installed network card, simply "plug-and-surf".
If you have a new network card that Windows cannot detect, use the driver diskette that comes with the new network card to install the driver, or download a driver from the manufacturer's website.
If the PC has some factory-installed software firewall, you should change the software firewall configuration to allow DHCP (UDP ports 67 and 68) to work.
Windows 98
and Windows NT:
This can be quite difficult, humiliating, time consuming and frustrating. Get a friend to help, or consult
with local computer technicians.
In general, the humiliating battle of adding a network driver for Windows 98 goes like this:
Windows 98 - add a network card and install the driver.
I assembled some Win98 drivers for typical Ethernet cards (Windows 98 second edition)
If you use 3COM 3c905, use
this diskette; if you
use Realtek 8019, Realtek 8029, Realtek 8139, D-Link DFE-530TX+, D-Link DFE-538TX,
D-Link DFE-530TX, Tulip, DEC-Intel 21x4x chipset, and Sohoware SFA110A, use
this diskette. (chances are good this combo
diskette has the Windows 98 SE driver for your Ethernet card). If you use Intel
Pro/100 or EtherExpress Pro/100, use
this diskette.
You need winimage to transform above image
files to
physical diskettes.
(1) Insert a Ethernet card into the machine, hopefully these are PnP cards. If the cards are not PnP cards, get help from a computer technician (you need a "setup disk" to set the IO and IRQ and the correct Windows driver). If you have a Brand Name laptop, simply insert a Ethernet PC Card (PCMCIA), the machine will recognize the network card and install the driver (of course sometimes it asks for the dreaded "driver floppy". 3COM 3c589 is a true plug-and-surf PCMCIA card for laptops (assuming your c:\windows\options\cabs\ is still intact and not destroyed or corrupted).
(2) Win98 will search its internal database for the network driver, as usual,
it will not found it, it then asks you to insert the dreaded "driver floppy",
you should have a "driver floppy" with the correct software driver on it. That
dreaded "driver floppy" is probably inside the box when you [or
previous owner] purchased the card
but now it has disappeared. You can surf the
manufacturer's web site [if they still exist] to download the driver, or ask friends for help,
or spend hours or days on the web hunting for that elusive "driver / setup" disk.
You can try one of above diskettes. You also need to tell Win98 where the
driver is located: often it is at the a:\ folder, but sometimes it is at a:\win98, or
a:\w98, or
a:\win9x or some bizarre folder.
Hint: insert the driver floppy in a friend's PC to see what the directory / folder structure looks like,
make some educated guesses. The Win98 drivers on my diskettes are located at a:\
(3) Win98 will ask for the Windows 98 CD (unless you have an brand name PC where the "cab files" are pre-loaded and still intact, typically in c:\windows\options\cabs\ ). If you don't have the Windows 98 CD or cab files, you might as well forget it now. Nothing will work.
You may need to repeat the (2) (3) loop several times, during the driver install process.
Reboot and surf.
Windows 95
(much worse than Window 98) - in addition to installing the Ethernet card driver
similar to above process, you have to add "Microsoft TCP/IP protocol". TCP/IP
protocol is not installed as a default protocol in Win95. You also need to find the "correct" Win95 CD (there are several
versions of Win95 CD, use the "correct" version or
else suffer the total loss of all data and corruption of Windows registry
hence
unable to boot up. Disclaimer). If you are in such
an unfortunate situation, get a friend or local
computer technician who is familiar with
Windows networking
to help.
