network adater not recognised

Hi I am trying to fix a computer for a friend as i know a liitle more than them. they had a problem & decided to do a factory settings restore. i think they must have pressed an incorrect option as they could not connect to the internet even through a wired connection. i have been able to download a driver so that i can connect via ethernet. however the network adapter is still not recognised & also the pci simple controller is showing the yellow triangle. the machine is a HP620notebook running vista. any ideas please

Hi Vince,
Yes I think you are right, the owner probably tried to do a factory restore,,,but something definitely went wrong.
As you know there are a number of ways of reloading the operating system and performing a factory restore using the "recovery" partition".

1 The usual way on an HP620 is to boot up, and before Windows starts to load, press Esc and then F11 this will go directly to the recovery utility and after a warning that the procedure will perform a format and reinstall (where everything is cleared and then restored to its factory or "out of the box" condition) the procedure will commence and as part of the process all the original drivers will be installed. So if he had done this then it should have everything on it necessary apart from a whole lot of updates and his favourite anti virus/firewall etc. (The fact that the drivers have not been installed makes me think he either didn;t do it this way or somehow went badly adrift!

2 HP issue CD/DVD discs so that if for one reason or another the "recovery" partition" has been damaged, corrupted, or deleted, and the recovery can't be performed as in (1) above the DVD can be used to reload the system. If the original owner used this method then he may have forgotten that the drivers for the computer come loaded on a separate CD (Separate that is from the DVD that reloads the operating system) [Win Vista] He will need therefore to install the drivers from the driver disc to regain complete functionality including that for his wireless network card. He can buy the discs if these have been mislaid direct from HP.

3 A cheaper way is….If you go here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechS…p;swEnvOID=2094
you should be able to download the drivers you need.

4 As an alternative, now have Internet access on the computer, you could allow Windows to update the drivers via Device Manager…… however this can sometimes be problematic, so it may be best to use the drivers from the link in (3) above.
See how you go with this, and post back and let us know how you get on.
Regards
paws

mant thanks for your help i am on shift work at the moment so my reply may be delayed

ok i have attempted to run the f11 factory restore but the computer shows the option but goes straight to the log in page. having spoken in detail to my frienf i am suprised this machine is still running. as i have delved deeper this machine should be running windows 7 as all of the system details are showing this. my friend said they downloaded the vista OS as the windows 7 was not working correctly. unless you have any ideas i feel it may be a reformat job of drive C if you agree is it possible for you to give me some tips on how to do this. i have contacted HP to see if they can suuply disks for the machine. as i say the system is actually running fine (despite the wrong OS) it is just that i cannott get the network adapter to work. many thanks

Hi Vince, This is perplexing….
I do not understand what has been going on here….. the HP620 usually ship with Vista 32 bit operating systems..(or all the ones I have seen do!)
It is not usual to be able to download a copy of Vista on the Internet unless in "special circumstances" are you sure that this machine has a legitimate operating system on it, correctly licensed and paid for etc?

Note we cannot give any advice for a machine that has not been correctly licenced…. until the position has been rectified and the licence state is correct.

If Win 7 has been installed and its all legitimate and correctly licenced, then if you go here you will be able to find the wireless drivers that you need
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechS…p;swEnvOID=4058
The page I have linked to is for Win 7 64bit operating system….. but drivers are available for the 32bit version…. (it might even be the same driver file but do check first)
Let us know how you get on
Regards
paws

Hi many thanks for your reply, like you this has become somewhot a can of worms. this computer was shipped running windows 7 home preinstalled with all the licencses.how or where this copy of vista has come from i do not know. as per your earlier post i have contacted HP who have confirmed that it should be windows 7 &are going to supply all the recovery disks required to get this back to good working order. could you advise me as to how to reformat drive c to do the reinstall or would the disks just overite the vista OS. again many thaks

Hi Vince,
Ok
Yes when the discs come, remove the Internet connection (pull out the plug) disconnect any printers or other stuff that may be connected, Ensure that you are not running solely on battery You must have the mains cable connected,) Empty any disc trays or slots of everthing, so its all empty and then insert the system disc, close down the computer, wait 30 seconds with a blank black screen, then power on the computer, it should try to boot from the disc…..you may be asked to "press any key" to boot from the disc, if so then press the spacebar once and then follow onscreen directions.

NOTE This is a destructive process, everything on the hard drive will be cleared…. Yes everything, so make sure Well before you start, that you have copied off to removable media, anything important to you or your friend. (when you have done this check again that you haven't forgotten anything!)

When the installation is complete you may (depending on the version of the HP discs received) need to install extra drivers, if so then insert the second disc from HP called (usually) Drivers and Utilities) or something similar.
Follow on screen directions and then everything should work.

Its a good idea to have your Antivirus product available for immediate installation.
You can download a copy of Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security_es…ls/default.aspx
which is an excellent product and also free! Keep this on removable media, and install it immeditately you have successfully installed Win7….. Don't even think about connecting your Internet cable or using the wireless Internet facility (not even for a second long test ) until your Anti virus is installed and the Windows firewall (or an alternative has been set to "On"

When you do connect to the Internet DO NOTHING until you have updated your Anti virus definitions. When that has been done ( a reboot may be required.) DO NOTHING until you have visited Windows updates and downloaded and installed all important and security updates. Some folks think that it can't hurt just to visit their favourite site just for a second or two to see if its all OK prior to following all the above steps….. Don't fall into that trap….. its takes only a few seconds for an unprotected machine to become infected…… and then you will have the "pleasure" of having to start again at the beginning!

Once its all protected and up to date then install your favourite applications Microsoft Word, your Email etc .

When that's all done and everything is working as you want it, there is one more thing you should do before you start using the computer.

Take a disc image, back up of your whole system..Win 7 has the tools to do this (see back up and Restore from the Start menu)
Keep an extra copy safe on removable media, so if trouble should ever strike again in the future you can reimage back to this "ideal" state, in less time than it takes to walk the dog!
Good luck
Regards
paws

many thanks for your in depth reply, i am at the mercy of HP as to when the disks will arrive but i will attempt to let you know the outcome

just to let you know that the machine has now been fixed, had a few more problems than i expected ie bootmanager missing, but somehow i worked through it & it appears fine . again many thanks for your help

Glad to hear you fixed it OK Regards paws