USB, Network Adapters, and Sound devices Gone

[GrundleLove]

Hi guys! Wow, its been a LONG LONG time since i have been here and i am going to have to say that i am impressed with the way the BT community has grown, love the new site layout. I remember when it was just a simple forum. Great job BT team!

But alas, i now call on you guys for a little help. I thought that i could tackle this problem myself but soon realized it is over my head..well..kind of.

A long time ago i installed some program called ReadyDriverPlus!, after the install i booted up my windows vista on my desktop and realized my mouse and keyboard did not work. Strange..so i got my old PS2 keyboard and booted without the ready driver, then uninstalled the program via control panel. Then i booted up and got to my desktop and realized that a lot of my drivers got wiped from my system. Most notable my Network Adapters. My Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter along with my nForce Netwoorking Controllers and Teredo Tunneling interface and WAN miniports all have the dreaded yellow exclamation point next to them in the Device Manager. ASWELL as my Universal Serial Bus controllers, and also my sound.

Now the problem here is that this is one of my custom built PCs so i got the NVIDIA Drivers and Utilities ( Version RT3.01B-N4) CD from storage ( i always knew i could keep this stuff!) But when i put the disc in and clicked for it to scan what i had installed, it said that everything was ok and the only options for install that it gave me was for RAID ( it did this because it was the only thing it showed for me not having installed). So alas, i am at a loss here. Just not too sure what i can do. I planned on prepping this computer for Windows 7. But here are my questions:

Should i just wipe the computer clean and install the Windows 7 install disc and go fresh? Or would the same problems occur with it not being able to read those devices. The problem being is that my PCI Wireless card is my only means of internet access and i have no Ethernet cable accessable to me and even if i did, the same problem would occur with windows not recognizing my nForce adapters.

Could i just download the drivers from a website and put them on to my computer and install them? only problem being that the USB controllers are not working so i can not use that as a means of transferring the required drivers.

A side note, i did reinstall the drivers for my Realtek High Def Audio and it still had the dreaded yellow ! and said there were no device drivers installed when trying to to a test playback..

So whats my play here? Whats the best thing to do or what can i do? Is there anymore information you need from me to give to you to help me though this situation? Let me know and i hope you guys can shed some light on this strange occurrence. Thanks!

[TheTerrorist_75]

You could do a repair install of Vista.

I would do a fresh install of Windows 7. It should recognize most of your hardware and install drivers for you. Once done you can upgrade the drivers if needed.

[Honda_Boy]

If it's an nVidia chipset then go to nVidia's site and download the latest version of nForce (and if you use nVidia graphics it wouldn't hurt to get the new GeForce drivers while you're at it).

You should go through and determine everything that missing drivers and try to install them manually from new downloads rather than old CDs.

I would do the same as TT though. If you had already planned to go Windows 7, it would just make the most sense to just back everything up you need and do a clean install of Windows 7.