Member Avatar for pixelbean

Hi folks,
I have always been passive - mostly reading posts rather than asking. Today I have a major problem and I thought I shld seek expert advice. I used to have wireless internet connected to pc via USB - no problems at all. Alas the Broadband plan got too expensive and I need to upgrade to another provider for Internet. The provider inquestion has a better deal for wireless internet but which only can be connected via ethernet controller. Tried as I might, I am unable to update drivers. The yellow icon with the exclaimation mark shows up in the DEVICES page of the Hardware page for the erthernet controller as well as the modem (model type) that came with the ISP. There is no disc that comes with the modem. The ISP said that it (drivers) shld update on auto -
plug and play (but no amount of pray made any changes). It just wont connect to LAN nor show up as internet connection. So is Windows 7 drivers for ethernet dead in the water? Will Windows 10 be better (if so i will update despite the numerous bad feedback
I heard about). Or shld I try another OS like Linux ( I m not good with OS nor pcs...).
Can you help? pixelbean....

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Practical, focused troubleshooting for that fills gaps in the replies from and — a short, ordered plan to find and install the correct driver for the Device Manager "Ethernet controller" yellow-exclamation.

First, identify the exact network chip. In Device Manager open the problematic device → Properties → Details → select Hardware Ids and copy the top line (the string beginning with PCI\VEN_... or USB\VID_...). Use those IDs on a different machine to locate an official driver on the PC/motherboard or NIC vendor support page (match Windows 7 32- or 64-bit). If the machine has no working internet, download the driver on another computer and transfer it with a USB stick.

Install the driver manually rather than relying on automatic updates. In Device Manager choose Update Driver → Browse my computer → Let me pick → Have Disk and point to the driver folder (the INF file). If a previous driver install failed, uninstall the device (check “Delete the driver software for this device” if present), reboot, then install the downloaded driver.

Reset the Windows network stack from an elevated Command Prompt and reboot afterwards:

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset

Verify hardware and fallbacks: confirm onboard LAN is enabled in BIOS/UEFI, check link/activity lights and try a known-good cable/port, test the ISP box and cable with another computer, or boot a Linux live USB to confirm the NIC works outside Windows. If no Windows 7 driver exists for the detected chipset, consider a low-cost PCIe or USB-Ethernet adapter that lists Windows 7 driver support. Always download drivers only from the device or system maker to avoid untrusted packages; if vendor support is unclear, include the VEN/DEV IDs when asking for help.

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Member Avatar for IntegratedTweak

Windows 10 is not that bad, but there are some weird issues with networking on 10586 and Above. It might be best if you layed off Windows 10 for a while. Why not give Windows 8 a try? There are a few thing that you will not like about it, but overall pretty good.

Member Avatar for rubberman

First, disable your Windows "firewall", then go to the networking page and delete your network connection, and then add it back. See what happens then. In any case, you should NOT need to update your system's network drivers, assuming that the new ISP's router is using a normal TCP connection.

One final thing. Some routers do not automatically detect whether you are using a regular ethernet cable, or a "patch" cable that is basically reverse-wired. You may want to check that out as well.

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