An Inf Error Occurs During Installation of a Network Adapter on a Windows 2000-Based Computer

During the installation of a network adapter on a Windows 2000-based computer, you may receive the following error message: This behavior has been noted during installation of the following network interface cards:

• 3Com 3CCFE575BT
• 3Com USB 3C19250
• 3Com 3CSOHO100-TX
• 3Com 3CXFEM656C
• 3Com 3C905C 10/100
• D-Link DFE530 TX Plus
• Intel 82557 Onboard
• Intel Dual Port (PCI)
• LinkSys LNE100TX v2
• LinkSys LNE
• LinkSys PCMCIA
• NetGear FA311TX

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
To resolve this behavior, follow the appropriate set of steps.

On a Portable Computer

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Mf\PCMCIA
3. Delete all of the folders that are in the PCMCIA folder. If an error message states that you do not have permission to delete, for each folder that you need to delete, click the folder, and then, on the Security menu, click Permissions. Give Everyone full control.
4. Locate the following key in the registry, and then delete all folders that are under the key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCMCIA
5. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.
6. Right-click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.
7. Expand the Network Adapters folder, right-click the network adapter that is causing the error, and then click Properties.
8. Click the Driver tab, click Update Driver, and then reinstall the driver for the network adapter.

On a Desktop Computer

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI
3. Under the PCI folder, there are several keys that begin with VEN. For each VEN key, click the key, click its subkey, and then observe the device description on the right side of the Registry Editor. Delete each subkey whose device description pertains to a network interface card. Do not delete the VEN key itself. Here is an example of a device description that pertains to a network adapter:
   DeviceDesc:REG_SZ:3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI TX NIC (3C905B-TX)
   
   
   Note that you may need to give the Everyone group Full Control permissions on these VENxx registry keys to delete them using Registry Editor. To do this, click Security, click Permissions, click Advanced, click to select the Reset permissions on all child objects check box, and then click OK. Give the Everyone group Full Control permission on this registry key, and then click OK.
4. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.
5. Right-click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.
6. Expand the Network Adapters folder, right-click the network adapter that is causing the error, and then click Properties.
7. Click the Driver tab, click Update Driver, and then reinstall the driver for the network adapter.

For information about your hardware manufacturer, visit the following Web site:The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

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