No internet connection

[shashgo]

i reformatted my dell optiplex sx280 desktop recently and reloaded the win XP OS.  I cannot connect to the internet though.  I have an ethernet port in the back of my computer, Im guessing this means I have an ethernet card.  When I look in device manager, should I also see it?  I dont, theres no network adapter entry.

So how can I get internet connectivity.  This is a 3 year old computer so tech support from dell is of course out of the question

[quaxo]

After you reinstalled Windows, you need to install the drivers that make the hardware function. The drivers for that model can be downloaded from Dell's website:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WW1&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PLX_PNT_P4_SX280&hidos=WW1&hidlanen&TabIndex=

[shashgo]

I did what you suggested.  I went to that link and Im guessing I download one of the drivers under the  Network heading, right?  Wouldnt the driver I want have to be for whatever hardware is installed in my system?  If so how would I know what hardware is installed, and therefore know what driver to install? 

I did download the first one though, just to see if it would work.  It doesnt, I get a pop up saying "No Broadcom hardware could be found on your system".  Or did I download the wrong one?

As far as the physical network adaptor hardware is concerned, does it matter what the OS is or what disk the OS was installed from?  I didnt get a CD with my computer, so I borrowed one from a friend to reinstall the OS (WinXP), it wasnt a WinXP disk that said for dell optiplex sx280..  So could that be the reason, the OS is not recognizing the network hardware?  And finally, when does the network icon appear in the network connection folder, is it when the computer sees the hardware or is it only after the necessary software has been installed?

Is there any way I can get my internet connection to work?

[quaxo]

You can click the "Add or Edit Service Tag" link on that page and enter your service tag. This will tell you specifically what you need. You will need to install ALL of the drivers for your system to work properly. When you reinstalled Windows, you deleted the files crucial to making the hardware work properly.

The first one you should install is the chipset drivers. Some other hardware may not be visible to the system until this driver is installed. After that, try reinstalling your sound, video, and network drivers.

[shashgo]

actually i had installed the drivers from the dell website but under each heading there are various entries.  I downloaded the recommended ones, not the optional ones.  Apparently, the optional ones are the drivers that actually do the work, so I had downloaded the wrong ones.  \

Like if you click on chipset, it will bring up the name of a driver and right next to it is the word optional.  That suggested to me it wasnt needed. Anyway, right now I have just downloaded the network and the audio driver and the computer is working perfectly.

Thanks for your help

[quaxo]

Yeah, I noticed that at well. I was originally going to tell you to download the "recommended" ones, then I thought "What's up with this? Half of the ones you need aren't even recommended, just 'optional'!"  Dell should really change that. It's very misleading and inaccurate. The HTML document about your network adapter is recommended, but the actual driver for it is optional?  Dell recommends you know how it works, but it doesn't matter whether the hardware works or not.

Anyway, glad you got it all working.