Switching from Wireless to Wired connection

[Rick Rab]

I am trying to make a switch from wireless internet connection to wired. I have connected an ethernet cable to the router and my PC. While plugged in, the green light is on in the socket to show that there is a successful connection. I have tried a few different things to force my PC (Windows 7) to draw from the wired connection over the wireless and can't seem to get it right.

My most recent method I've tried is as described in this link: http://helpdeskgeek.com/networking/force-windows-7-to-use-wired-connection-over-wireless/#comment-581711

Everything is fine until I get to where I am supposed to have a "LAN Network Connection" tab which simply does not exist on my computer or for some reason cannot be found.

Have I been using the wrong methods? Is it a faulty cable/wrong cable perhaps? Am I overlooking something?
EDIT: I tried switching ethernet cables and the problem persists.
ADDITIONAL EDIT: There are two other desktops connected to this network successfully via cable.

Here's a Speccy summary of my PC:
Operating System
   Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
   AMD FX-8120   19 °C
   Zambezi 32nm Technology
RAM
   8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 671MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
   Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-990XA-UD3 (Socket M2)   27 °C
Graphics
   VX2270 SERIES (1920x1080@60Hz)
   1279MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (EVGA)   44 °C
Storage
   59GB M4-CT064M4SSD2 ATA Device (SSD)
   596GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B2 ATA Device (SATA)   33 °C
   15GB hp v165w USB Device (USB)
Optical Drives
   TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653A ATA Device
Audio
   High Definition Audio Device

Any feedback is appreciated.

[Geek-9pm]

You must disable the wireless adapter.
And you mus tenable the Ethernet adapter.
Go into control panel and find the network area. Locate your network adapters.
But if for some reason you can not enable the Ethernet, look at this:
Cannot enable the Network Adapter (Windows 7)
Does that help?

[Rick Rab]

That link would appear to help, but its just when I get to step (d.) there is no LAN Connection for me to click on.
That is essentially the problem I guess. Its somehow not seeing the wired connection. My roomate is running the same OS, and in his connections there is a LAN Connection option. I'll post a screenshot.

[Rick Rab]

This is what I'm looking at.

[attachment deleted by admin to conserve space]

[Geek-9pm]

Yeah, it only shows your wireless.
Get you motherboard manual and look and see what chip set your have. Normally, Windows 7 should have found all the drivers for all your devices. The motherboard came with a CD of drivers, - right?  You may need to install the drivers again.
The BIOS may have an option to disable on board devices. The Ethernet device might be set to off.
Here is a post that sounds like your problem.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/332769-30-gigabyte-970a-ethernet-cable-problem

update your driver from gigabyte official website.
change LAN cable to make sure the cable is not a problem.
check on-board LAN is enable and no other option blocks it in bios.
before checking bios, try clear CMOS  and return all default, and change what you need.

Maybe that could help.

[Rick Rab]

That seems to have done the trick. Looks like I just needed a driver.

You are a gentleman and a scholar, I don't care what they say about you.

Thanks!

[Geek-9pm]

You are welcome.