Hugh Vandervoort's post (clipped):-- <<<< '"> (6)ADSL modem connected to usb in ethernet card in pci slot" What does this mean >>>> oops, it does mean I am capable of typing something which even I do not understand!!! sorry, the fact that the win bond fast pci ethernet adapter kept on disablng itself was playing in my mind for 3 days that i got into a typo! the correct position is <<< (6)ADSL modem connected to 2 port usb adapter card in a pci slot>>> another point which I omitted in my earlier post:-- the device manager also shows a " wan miniport (pptp)" which also has a yellow exclamation mark which unlike the "win bond..adapter" can not be uninstalled because win xp says, without it the system will not boot. finally I am quite ignorant about both hard/ software and just trying to get a working knowledge. thanks and good day---- Venkat Visit our website regularly for FAQs, articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more http://freepctech.com