BTP 2021 (PC and SC) recruitment

[Bubba1546080759 335]

I have a 6 or 7 year old Dell Studio 1745 laptop with windows 8.1

I decided to try and upgrade my network card for my LAN, so that I can get 1gb transfer from the computer to my NAS. I bought a Startech.com 1 port Gigabit ethernet network express card (this one http://www.startech.com/Networking-IO/Adapter-Cards/1-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet-ExpressCard-Network-Adapter-Card~EC1000S )

Now its supposed to be plug and play, so I plugged it in and waited for the beeps from the computer, but nothing happened. I have the two green LED lights on the device but it doesn't appear in Device manager and gave me no option to install any drivers.

I downloaded the latest drivers I could find on their website, which are for windows 7 and have installed them manually as per the instructions from the website tech support, but still nothing.

Has anyone got any ideas on what I could try?

Thanks

[Bubba1546080759 335]

Anyone?

[Scottymtb 17]

Hey Bubba,

From experience on fixing (and something kicking) laptops for work network express cards are essentially useless and very rarely work.

Just because it is getting power that doesn't mean it is connecting to the board properly. Assuming that you have dis/reconnected it several times and the connections are secure there are a few things to check.

1st and most simple is to check if it is compatible with Windows 8. Windows 8 is a completely different style of operating system in terms of architecture and doesn't always work with devices that work with Windows 7 and below... especially older devices like express cards.

The next thing to look at is the bios settings. Dell have a very good bios which allows you to control if certain functions are available such as wifi or express slots. You will have to double check but on your laptop I think you press F2 when booting to get in to the bios.

I would go in to more detail but let me know if you have any luck there, assuming you still have the laptop

Good Luck!