Dell laptop missing ethernet controller

[karenmac60]

Ok, I really have two problems here but they both amount to the same thing - no internet.
Firstly, I had to reinstall windows recently as my laptop kept crashing. I reinstalled all the drivers etc, but since then my ethernet controller has been disappearing from time to time. The driver is there for it, but the controller itself is not listed in my device manager. Sometimes reinstalling the drivers or scanning for new hardware finds it again, but as of yesterday it seems to have gone for good. How can I find it and how can I stop it from disappearing again?
Since I cannot get my wired connection going I attempted yet again to get the wireless up and running - it says I am connected, my signal strength is excellent but I can't get any internet. In status it says I have no packets received. I can't even log onto my router's maintenance page as I reset it and it won't accept the default password (which is on the router so I know it's the right one).
My computer is a Dell latitude 600, I'm using windows xp home editionand my router is a netgear WGR614 v6. If anyone can help I will be your slave forever cos right now all my laptop is good for is the bin!

Thanks

Karen

[VHG]

When you go into Windows device manager are any yellow warning asterisks shown?

It sounds like you may not have installed all the drivers.

Where did you get the drivers from?

Are they definately XP drivers? (they did change for Vista and 7)

[twix123]

You can easily reset your router password to the factory default settings by pressing the button on the back for ten seconds:

http://kb.netgear.com...wers/detail/a_id/9665

[galeck1947]

Hi karenmac60,
You will have to go to the Dell website and download their drivers for your laptop. I have come across this on a few occasions because the drivers that are in your OEM XP disc are universal from the component manufacturers but Dell seem to use different ones.so this is what you have to do.
galeck1947

[karenmac60]

I have all the right drivers which I got from the Dell website - there are no warnings on my device manager. It's the device itself which has totally disappeared. I've gone into show hidden items and also the environment thingy that shows absolutely everything and there's no ethernet controller. I definitely had one and it was a Broadcom gigabit ethernet controller, but it's now no where to be found.
As for the router, I did the whole reset thing - that's when I stopped being able to login. The default settings are printed on the underside of it but when I type them in it doesn't accept them.
I've now ordered a new wireless card to see if that will work, as my daughter's laptop works fine with the wireless so it's not the router that's the problem. But if that doesn't work I'm stumped.