I switched over from Vista to XP(on it's own hard drive), and everything works great.. except I'm dead in the water. I have to swap hard drives Between Vista and XP to get Vista's internet access.

Put Internet Explorer on the desktop, clicked on it, and nothing. No connection, just and Error message. Seems all the Ether drivers are missing(knew this was coming), and Acer tech support has turned a deaf ear. I'm at a loss as to where to find the correct drivers, or even what they're called. Acer has some drivers, but none seem right or worked for this problem. At least I couldn't get them installed. Vista uses Broadcom drivers, so I downloaded what I think is appropriate from them, but XP wouldn't install for a dumbass like me.

Here's the situation. If I could find the right driver, normally I'd just download it using 'run', and let it self install, but I can't get onto the internet with XP. I've tried 'save'-ing them to hard drive and disk using Vista, but XP Wizard won't load them from those media. I really also need the correct procedure for getting the drivers installed correctly; at least how/where to start when/if I find them.

If anyone feels like helping, here's all I know:

Acer Extensa 5620Z laptop

Intel Pentium dual core T2370 @ 1.73Ghz X 1.73 Ghz

IE6 SP3

Under Device Manager > Network Adapters , here are the missing drivers:

* Audio device on high definition audio bus

* Ethernet controller (I think this is the phone modem)

* Ethernet controller (and this is the Ether port that I need)

* Mass Storage controller

* Modem device on high definition audio bus

* JM bus controller

* Video controller

* Video controller(VCA compatible)

If anyone cares to, please jump in.. , otherwise it's back to Vista .

Thanks again

Best, Paul

Edited October 4, 200817 yr by paullyboy

Have you tried the driverpacks from driverpacks.net and a post install driver utility like driverforge?

Hey Ice,

After 2 frustrating days, I finally figured it out. One of the Acer downloads worked, but what I didn't do or realize is that the 'Zipped' folder files had to be uncompressed/extracted. I'm actually replying now using XP and AOL(soon to be replaced with Gmail). Internet Explorer won't give me access. Something about not being 'authorized'. Can you imagine that. No big. Firefox is now installed and works just fine. Thanks for all the suggestions. I was starting to scratch my head.. maybe just a 'senior moment' or 2.. or 20.. or.. maybe it's time for a beer.. or 10.. or . Again, thanks for the help.

Best, Paul

Edited October 5, 200817 yr by paullyboy