I rebuilt a Dell Dimension 3100 with Windows 2008 server. I first tried the new Windows 2008 R2 and the network card was installed correctly right after the installation. I later tried the original Windows 2008 with SP2, the network card was not recognized. The card is an Intel Pro/100 VE.
Dell doesn’t provide a driver on its support web site. My next destination is Intel’s support site. I found this page, and it clearly states:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008* does not support the following devices:
Intel® PRO/100 VE Desktop Adapter
Before I gave up on it, I found a package of all Intel Ethernet Drivers. There are multiple versions of the package. The one I used is version 13.4. It works under my new installation of Windows 2008 SP2 32bit. Here are the steps. Even though my driver is an Intel Pro/100 VE, I think the steps apply to other Intel Ethernet cards.
- Download the driver from this page. Extract the package to your desktop.
- Open Device Manager from Control Panel.
- Right click on Ethernet Controller and select Update Driver Software… .
- Select the second option Browse my computer for driver software.
- Click on Browse to browse to the folder where you extracted the drivers. Make sure Include subfolders is checked.
- Click on Next to finish the wizard. The driver should be installed.
