The Ethernet port on your motherboard has stopped working, so you moved an Ethernet PCI adapter card from another computer to your desktop PC. However, when you start your Windows operating system the PnP adapter card isn’t seen by the operating system. Which of these is the most likely cause of this issue?
A) The Windows OS doesn’t include drivers for your adapter card
B) The PCI card isn’t compatible with your computer
C) The Ethernet adapter must be connected to the network to be automatically identified by Windows
D) The adapter card isn’t fully seated in the PCI slot
E) The Ethernet adapter is homesick for its old computer
The answer: D) The adapter card isn’t fully seated in the PCI slot
If an adapter card isn’t seen by the operating system, it probably isn’t seen by the motherboard either. The Windows OS will always identify a new PnP adapter card, even if Windows doesn’t currently have the proper driver.
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Want to know more? Watch “Installing and Configuring Adapter Cards.”The modularity of adapter cards has provided us with an infinite number of expansion options for our PCs. In this video, you’ll learn the basics of adapter card installation and the fundamentals of device driver installation. |