I have a big issue with my main computer. It was hit by lightning in a terrible weather condition night and i forgot to unplug the computer. It started the next day but it shows that it does not have a network adapter so i can not connect to Internet . ADM PROCESSOR 2 GHZ 2 GIG RAM 500 GIGS HDD I have tried system restore but it does not help Any idea please ?
Check the network adapter driver first. If it shows that the driver is missing then get it from the manufacturer's website. If not, then there's a possibility of hardware problem.
Hi gery, Just curious, but do you not have surge protection for your computer? I have an isobar Touch Master Plus protecting my desktop computer which has 1500 joules of surge supression. After you solve your current problem, you may want to look into investing is such a device. When my power drop suffered an arc across the power meter, it destroyed most of the electronics in my house (microwave, TV, DVD, stereo, etc.), but the surge protector saved my computer. Luckily, my home owners insurance covered the situation nicely. My guess is that without surge protection, your NIC (network interface card) may have been fried from the surge, and you may need a new one installed in your computer. -- Tom
Cheapest fix is to get a USB wireless adapter - a Belkin from Walmart. Insert the CD containing the drivers in your DVD-ROM drive, run the drivers install program, insert the USB wireless adapter when prompted in your USB port, close the drivers install program when its finished and reboot Windows. Your USB wireless adapter should become active when Windows boots up again. And then you should be able to connect wirelessly to the Internet. My Desktop PC has an Ethernet card but no native built-in wireless network capability. Of course if your Ethernet card is fried, you'll have to replace it.
The same thing happened to me last summer. Lightning took out my router, Vonage device and NIC. In my case I wanted a wired connection so I installed a new NIC. I was told to go with Intel brand but I opted for a cheaper Rosewill brand. Unfortunately It arrived DOA and I had to order the Intel anyways. Lesson learned. It's really easy to install a card. You just need to know what type of interface your motherboard uses. I was also told that I may end up having other problems that creep up later on from the strike. So far I've been lucky and everything works.
Device Manager either accesses the NIC. Or an NIC was the path used by lightning to connect to earth ground. If Device Manager shows an NIC, then view lights that report the NIC's computer is talking to the router's computer. A light on the computer's ethernet connector should light when the cable is connected. And extinguish when disconnected. A corresponding light on the router's front panel should do same. If not, then either the NIC or router (or both) is defective. Again, that would be the path taken by a lightning strike far down the street to earth ground. Above is how to start a diagnosis and solution. Below is how to avert future failures. Neither the Isobar nor Belkin even claim to protect from that type of transient. Another and completely different solution (that unfortunately shares a same name) harmlessly earths that energy BEFORE it can enter the building. Earthing (a 'whole house' solution) is the only solution implemented in any facility that cannot have damage. One solution to protect everything. Once that energy gets inside, it will hunt for and find a destructive connection to earth via appliances.
Well, of course we know that is not entirely true, huh, westom as we go round and round on this every time you push your whole house solutions. I am please you did not push your typical claims that ALL electronics for the last 20 years have protection and regulation circuits built in for we know that is not true either. Open any cheap 1500 watt hair dryer from China for proof. Certainly whole house solutions are great for protecting facilities from anomalies coming off the "grid", but NOTHING (short of total isolation) can protect us from a direct lightning strike, and whole house solutions don't protect our systems from extreme anomalies originating inside the facility - such as from a faulty high-wattage appliance. Surge and spike protectors are little more than fancy and expensive extension cords. A decent S&S protector may have prevented damage in this case by blocking AC when the anomaly was detected. But opening the circuit causes a sudden shutdown of the computer, which is never a good idea as drive and data corruption may occur. Surge and spike protectors don't regulate the power, they simply "clamp" or chop off the tops of the sinewaves leaving very dirty AC for the PSU regulator circuits to deal with. And they do absolutely nothing for low-voltage events (dips - opposite of spikes, sags - opposite of surges, or brownouts - long term sags) which can easily, and suddenly disrupt power resulting in a loss of data. Therefore, all computers should be on a "good" UPS with AVR - automatic voltage regulation. Note I said, and reiterate "good" UPS. You don't need to spend $400 on a UPS, but you do need to avoid the budget, entry levels too. They don't have the necessary cutover speeds or good (if any) regulation. A decent UPS with sufficient power (1000VA or greater) will protect most computers AND all your network gear AND one or two LCD monitors from any anomaly, short of a direct lightning strike.
