ethernet access question

"rb" <rbig RemoveThis @bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:tNWci.607$P8.319@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
> Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to use
> in a kid's room.
>
> A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
> modem, no Ethernet.
>
> Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC
> card in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
> hub/router?

Yes, it could be that simple, depending on exactly how old
the PC is and the OS it may be running.

Luck;
Ken
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

It's Win2000, so should be OK.
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

rb wrote:
> Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to use in
> a kid's room.
>
> A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
> modem, no Ethernet.
>
> Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC card
> in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
> hub/router?
>
>
I have done that with an old computer and there was no problem.
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

ProfGene wrote:
> rb wrote:
>> Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to
>> use in a kid's room.
>>
>> A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
>> modem, no Ethernet.
>>
>> Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC
>> card in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
>> hub/router?
>>
> I have done that with an old computer and there was no problem.

Well, I've done that, too, and found I had to have the correct drivers.
Depends on what OS is on that old machine. You should find needed
drivers on the manufacturer's website.
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:43:34 -0400, Wolf Kirchmeir
<ElLoboViejo RemoveThis @RuddyMoss.com> wrote:

>ProfGene wrote:
>> rb wrote:
>>> Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to
>>> use in a kid's room.
>>>
>>> A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
>>> modem, no Ethernet.
>>>
>>> Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC
>>> card in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
>>> hub/router?
>>>
>> I have done that with an old computer and there was no problem.
>
>Well, I've done that, too, and found I had to have the correct drivers.
>Depends on what OS is on that old machine. You should find needed
>drivers on the manufacturer's website.


The OS may or may not have native driver support built in,
but the other factor is that the OS is considering the
present dial-up adapter as the primary network interface
device (if it had been used for dialup ISP) and may need the
internet connection wizard ran to set the NIC as the new
adapter bound as the primary TCP/IP device.
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:58:46 -0400, kony wrote:

> On Thu, 20 Sep 2007 19:43:34 -0400, Wolf Kirchmeir
> <ElLoboViejo.DeleteThis@RuddyMoss.com> wrote:
>
>>ProfGene wrote:
>>> rb wrote:
>>>> Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to
>>>> use in a kid's room.
>>>>
>>>> A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
>>>> modem, no Ethernet.
>>>>
>>>> Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC
>>>> card in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
>>>> hub/router?
>>>>
>>> I have done that with an old computer and there was no problem.
>>
>>Well, I've done that, too, and found I had to have the correct drivers.
>>Depends on what OS is on that old machine. You should find needed drivers
>>on the manufacturer's website.
>
>
> The OS may or may not have native driver support built in, but the other
> factor is that the OS is considering the present dial-up adapter as the
> primary network interface device (if it had been used for dialup ISP) and
> may need the internet connection wizard ran to set the NIC as the new
> adapter bound as the primary TCP/IP device.

THe machine I'm working now (win 9 had both modem and nic. The only
issue I had was causing it to discover that, 'hey, there's an IP gateway
hooked up to the NIC!'
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question 

"ProfGene" <mfevs.TakeThisOut@winco.net> wrote in message
news:fcug8l$l3c$1@news04.infoave.net...

> > Found an old pc in a closet I'd forgotten we had. Thought I'd put to use
in
> > a kid's room.
> > A problem, leading to my question is: discovered it has only a dial-up
> > modem, no Ethernet.
> > Is putting Ethernet connection in as simple as putting an Ethernet NIC
card
> > in an empty slot? Will that get it to where we can hook it to our
> > hub/router?

> I have done that with an old computer and there was no problem.

I have done this too but there are several gotchas that may occur.
If the computer is "really" old, the slots may be ISA only and finding
the correct NIC card could be a hassle (fleamarkets). If the cab
files are not on the computer no matter which NIC card you choose
you will al least have to find these if the native Windows has drivers
for said card. There are other network related files that the install
process will need that are in the cab file set. Finally, worst case is
that the card you pick may be so old that the manufacture has
decided to retire the drivers to "bit heaven" and no longer keeps
them on their servers. So the final thought is yes, it might be real
easy and then again it could turn into a nightmare.

later.....
 >> Stay informed about: ethernet access question