[Katchoo]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Go into the Control Panel and then into the properties for the LAN connection and whatever other internet connections are present and make sure that Internet Protocol TCP/IP and File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks are installed. If so, try removing them and then reinstalling them.

The appearance (or lack therof) of the 2 above files wouldn't cause the kind of conflict Badger is seeing. You can remove all the TCP/IP, ICS, Netbios, IPX, and whatever else Windows associates to a specific NIC and the effect wouldn't be noticable through Device Manager. Windows would act like everthing is fine since it didn't know what Drivers/settings you wanted in the first place.

Badger, what's likely happening is that Windows is conflicting between devices; most likely between your Ethernet Card and Dial-Up Modem &/or Sound Card. Pop your other Hard Drive in (the one you can get onto the Internet with) and visit Linksys to get the latest Win98 Drivers for your NIC, and do the same with the Sound Card and Dial-Up Modem. Once you have these 3 Drivers you can safely delete/remove these 3 Devices from the Device Manager (inlcuding the unknown one with the "?"). Reboot, and as Win98 begins to redetect each Device, reinstall the Drivers one by one (either from a Floppy or on the Hard Drive. And make sure you unzip them if they come in ZIP format). Windows should install each Device correctly, and in turn everything should run correctly upon a final restart.

In truth you should be able to install the Drivers that you got with your hardware, without having to go on the Net to get updated ones, unless the Hardware is brand-spanking new, or was purchased Pre-Win98. The older Drivers should work fine in Win98, and once you're Online you can grab updated ones at your leisure.

Of course with Win98 just about anything can happen, so don't be surprised if nothing changes. Sometimes Windows will improperly assign IRQs and you'll end up with IRQ conflicts that shouldn't be there. Physically taking out a Dial-Up Modem from the computer, installing the NIC and Sound Card to get them running fine, and then re-installing the Dial-Up Modem (both physically and software) can sometime give Win98 the kick-in-the-butt it occasionally needs. In reality though you shouldn't have to take this drastic a step.

Something else to try would be to enter into the Properties of the Unknown Device in the Device Manager and disabling the Unknown Device so Win98 won't bother loading it. I've seen that work from time to time...

Did you install Win98 overtop of WinMe? If so you may have to wipe everything off the Hard Drive and give Win98 a clean install (again). When Win98 (or any Version of Windows) decides to do it's own thing and not co-operate in any logical manner then formatting can be the only recourse.

Hope this helps (and makes sense).