Microsoft KB Archive/216309

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This article discusses a beta test product not yet announced by Microsoft. Please feel free to familiarize yourself with this product, test it, and report problems to Microsoft.

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

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SUMMARY
Windows 2000 does not support the following 3Com Etherlink PCI network adapters:


 * 3Com Etherlink III PCI Bus-Master Adapter (3C590)
 * 3Com Fast Etherlink PCI 10/100BASE-T Adapter (3C595)

These network adapters are no longer supported by 3Com.

MORE INFORMATION
If your computer is running Microsoft Windows NT or Microsoft Windows 98 using any of the 3Com PCI network adapters listed above, Windows 2000 Setup warns you that there is no driver support for the adapter when you try to upgrade using Winnt32.exe.

If you want to check for Windows 2000 compatibility before starting the upgrade process, you can use the following command from the installation CD-ROM:

"drive:\i386\winnt32 /checkupgradeonly" where drive is the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive containing the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. This command performs a compatibility check and reports any problematic components.

If you are performing a "clean" installation of Windows 2000 using the Setup disks or by booting from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, Setup does not detect the 3Com PCI adapter because there is no driver support for it.

A "clean" installation of Windows 2000 means either installing Windows 2000 on a blank hard disk, or installing Windows 2000 in a folder other than the folder in which an existing version of Windows is installed.

If you try to manually install the network adapter, you find that the appropriate drivers are not available in Windows 2000.

Microsoft recommends using a supported network adapter listed on the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List.

Additional query words: 3c59x

Keywords         : kbhw Version          : WINDOWS:2000 Platform         : WINDOWS Issue type       : kbbug kbinfo
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