Network Cable is unplugged

A couple of days ago my computer installed a Windows update on shutdown. I let this go ahead. I am running XP home edition on SP2 and have been for I guess a year or more. When I returned to the machine a couple of hours later it had restarted instead of shutting down and the baloon saying "network cable is unplugged" was showing. I therefore believe that the Windows update had something to do with this.
I have tried all the usual things, changing the Media type in Properties/advanced to every setting woth success, checking the power management option, reloading the driver etc.
I did not have the restore option working as I had a problem with a virus hiding in restore about a year ago, which was successsfully cleaned, but I haven't had the restore backups operating since then. Maybe this was a big mistake.
Next I tried disabling the onboard Lan that I have on my Asus motherboard and fitting a PCI Lan card. Again no success as this comes up with "Limited or no connectivity" and I have tried all the above solutions.
I have tried swapping cables to the ADSL router (Netgear DG834G) withy no success. My other desktop works fine with both cables and wireless to laptops works fine.
HAs anyone any ideas as I have run out of them. I am still blaming the Windows update.

 

Jimbo ...

That's what my Dad used to call me when I was a kid. Welcome to the BBS.

If you think your problem is related to, or caused by, your recent update, try uninstalling it. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows. The update folders are hidden by default, so open Tools > Folder Options > View, select Show hidden files and folders, and click the OK button.

In C:\Windows update uninstallation folders are shown at the top of the display with names similar to $NtUninstallKB911564$. Each one will have a subfolder named spuninst containing four files, including one named spuninst.txt. Double-click the .txt files to open them in Notepad, or whatever text reader/editor you use, to see if you can identify the update you want to uninstall.

When you've (hopefully) done so, close the text file, double-click on the corresponding spuninst.exe file, and follow the directions. You may have to reboot after uninstalling the update.

If this doesn't take care of your problem you may have to uninstall one or more other updates (you can always reinstall them), or the cause of your problem lies elsewhere. Good luck, and please let us know how you make out.