On a Windows XP Home Service Pack 2 system, the network adapter, which is a in listed in the Device Manager as a "SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device" was showing up as "SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device #3". It had "#3" after it because I had uninstalled it through the Device Manager and then scanned for hardware changes several times trying to correct a problem with the board.
I wanted to remove the "#3" numbering, since there were no other Ethernet adapters in the system. I found instructions and even a Visual Basic .vbs script, fixnetwork.vbs do perform the task at network adapter problem in xp.
If you double-click on fixnetwork.vbs after downloading it, it will prompt
you to save any work in progress and remind you to restart the system after
Windows has detected new devices. You definitely need to save unsaved files
you've been editing, since the script will issue the command
SHUTDOWN.exe -r -f -t 00 to reboot the system once you click on
the OK button.
When the system rebooted, I saw a yellow circles with exclamation marks next to them for entries in the Network Adatpters section of the Device Manager.
I right-clicked on the network adapter with the number next to it and chose "Uninstall". When I chose to proceed with the uninstall, I got a message "Failed to uninstall the device. The device my be required to boot up the computer", though.
At this point, I had lost network connectivity because of the problem with
the network adapter and I couldn't uninstall the SiS adapter nor any of
the entries under Network Adapters. I was wishing I had set
a restore point for Windows XP immediately prior to running
fixnetwork.vbs, which I could revert to at this point. But
I did have one from yesterday. So I went through the procedure below
to restore the system to that restore point.
Start.Programs.Accessories.System Tools.System Restore.Next.Next.Next to proceed.
I had to reinstall a program I installed earlier in the day and reset
the MAC address for the network adapter, since I had fixed a problem with
that address earlier in the day, but after that I was back to where I had
been prior to running fixnetwork.vbs.
Then, instead of running fixnetwork.vbs, I decided to manually
try some of the steps suggested by its author at
network adapter problem in xp. I ran regedit and
navigated to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\
I then looked through each of the entries from 0000 to 0009 for
"SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device" in the DriverDesc key. I found it
under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0008. I right-clicked on 0008 and
chose "delete". I then closed and reopened the Device Manager. The
adapter still had the "#3" at the end of the description. I uninstalled it
and scanned for hardware changes by clicking on Action and then
selecting Scan for hardware changes in the Device Manager.
The results were the same. The adapter still had the "#3" at the end.
When I checked the registry, the 0008 key had reappeared.
Scanning through the registry for "SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device", I found it
in the following registry entries. There may have been others, but I stopped
the search after finding the ones below. The ControlSet001
entries is one of typically 2 "control sets" Windows maintains for detected
hardware. Whether ControlSet001 or ControlSet002 is
in use at the moment is controlled by the HKLM\SYSTEM\Select
registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\9\Description
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0008\DriverDesc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Network\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\{DD1BD307-1A13-4848-BC7F-8E1A91A98F06}\Descriptions
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\PCI\VEN_1039&DEV_0190&SUBSYS_01911039&REV_00\3&267a616a&0&20\DeviceDesc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\PCI\VEN_1039&DEV_0190&SUBSYS_01911039&REV_00\3&267a616a&0&20\FriendlyNameIn the third to last entry listed above, I saw "1 2 3" listed for the value.
In the last registy entry shown above, I saw a FriendlyName with
a value of SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device #3. I tried to edit the
value to remove the "#3", but received a message indicating I could not edit it
and there was an error writing the value's new contents. I then tried taking
out the "1 2 3" in the third to last entry,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Network\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\{DD1BD307-1A13-4848-BC7F-8E1A91A98F06}\Descriptions
and replacing it with a "1". That worked, so I rebooted. But the adapter still
had a "#3" next to it, so I restored the value to "1 2 3".
I then tried the instructions at Manually Removing Network Adapter Entries from the Registry, which were as follows:
To correct this problem, do the following in the registry:
- Start Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE) and locate the following registry subkeys in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, where number is the number of any network adapter that appears in the Installed Adapter Cards section in the Network tool in Control Panel:
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWLinkIPX\NetConf
\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\<Directory Specifying Manufacturer>
\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\<number>
- Manually remove all subkeys pertaining to the network adapter.
- Quit Registry Editor.
- Shut down and restart Windows.
I ran regedit and
navigated HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
I found a SiSGbeXP key (the "Gbe" may stand for "Gigabit
Ethernet") with a value name of DisplayName with a value of
"SiS191/SiS190 Ethernet Device NDIS 5.1 Driver" and a SISNICXP
key with a value name DisplayName with a value of
SiS PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter Driver for NDIS51. I deleted
both the SiSGbeXP and the SISNICXP keys. There
was no \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWLinkIPX\NetConf -
the system isn't using the IPX protocol.
The instructions also stated that the \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\<Directory
Specifying Manufacturer> key should be deleted.
There were
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Silicon Integrated Systems Corp.
and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SiS keys. But the values within
them referred to video support. I didn't delete those since the system has a
SiS Mirage Graphics video controller.
The instructions also recommend deleting
\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\<number>. I found the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\9.
It had a value name of Description with a value of
SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device. There was also a value name of
ServiceName with a value of
{2F1FC3EB-1A5A-4430-B8C1-EB57A2FFF8AB}. I deleted the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkCards\9.
I also deleted the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\{2F1FC3EB-1A5A-4430-B8C1-EB57A2FFF8AB} key, since it was associated with
the network controller - it had TCP/IP parameters stored within it.
When I rebooted, I was still in the same situation. The network adapter still had the "#3" after it. I decided that it would be quicker to just rervert to an October 19, 2007 restore point prior to when I had tried installing drivers for the network adapter from the manufacturer of the motherboard, PCChips and the chipset manufactuer, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) Corporation rather than spend any more time trying to find the relevant registry keys to delete
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