Installing Network Interface Cards

Although many recent computers include a 10/100 Ethernet port or a Wireless Ethernet adapter, you often need to install a network interface card (NIC) into a computer you want to add to a network.

ISA/PCI

To install a Plug and Play (PnP) network card (all PCI cards support PnP, and some ISA cards do as well), follow this procedure:

1. Turn off the computer and remove the case cover.

2. Locate an available PCI expansion slot.

3. Remove the slot cover and insert the card into the slot. Secure the card in the slot.

4. Restart the system and provide the driver disk or CD-ROM when requested by the system.

5. Insert the operating system CD-ROM when requested to install network drivers and clients ; you might need to swap the network card driver CD-ROM back into the drive to finish the installation.

6. The IRQ, I/O port address, and memory address required by the card will be assigned automatically.

If you need to install a non-PnP (legacy) network card, see Chapter 18, "Using and Optimizing Windows," for the general process.

USB

Although USB network adapters are also PnP devices, you normally need to install the drivers provided with the USB network adapter before you attach the adapter to your computer. After the driver software is installed, the device will be recognized as soon as you plug it into a working USB port.

You will need to use the operating system CD-ROM to install network drivers and clients when you install any type of network card.

Most USB network adapters are bus powered. For best results, they should be attached to a USB port built into your computer or to a self- powered hub. Some adapters support USB 2.0, which provides full-speed support for 100BaseT (Fast Ethernet) signal speeds.

PC Card/CardBus

PC Card network adapters work with both the original 16-bit PC Card slot and the newer 32-bit CardBus slot. However, CardBus cards work only in CardBus slots.

If you are using a wireless USB adapter, you can improve signal strength by using an extension cable between the adapter and the USB port on the computer.

Both PC Card and CardBus cards are detected and installed by built-in support for these adapters in Windows 95 and newer versions. However, Windows NT 4.0 requires that Card and Socket Services compatible with Windows NT 4.0 and with the card(s) you want to install be present if you want to hot-swap the network adapter with another card. If you don't, you can use the enabler software provided by the card vendor.

Some PC Card and CardBus network adapters often require that a dongle be attached to the card to enable the card to plug into a network port. See Chapter 12, "Portables," for details.