Can't "find" the modem

I am trying to help a friend with her computer (see this) and I'm having some trouble finding the modem so I can find and install a driver for it.

She bought this thing from a local *Computer Doctor* and now I have a mess on my hands. It seems to have been put together from a pile of parts and every time she calls him it costs her more and more.

Is there any way to detect the modem and the manufacturer of same so we can get a driver. I may have the same problem with the sound card. I don't want to have to tear it apart because it's 'sealed' and if I do - bye-bye any warrantee that's left.

As always, any and all help will be greatly appreciated.


Mike

 

This should do the job.

 

Thanks for the reply, luga. I had already tried Belarc Advisor and it didn't detect anything.

I guess we're back to square one and me without any dynamite.


Mike

 

I may have the same problem with the sound card.

Oh Boy ! Reads like the nasty Modem/Sound card IRQ conflict.

My WAG is that there is a PCI ( or builtin ) WinModem type Modem involved putting forth its nasty ways of causing hardware ( IRQ ) conflicts.

I would aslo bet that if you were to remove the modem or at least disable it in the Device Manager the Sound Card problem would be solved.

May be a WAG. But has been known to work.

PCI Modems are well known for causing probelms for Sound cards and/or NICs.

At least that is what I see from where I sit 1200+ miles away.

Billybob

 

I think you have two choices:

1) Break the seal and find out for yourself.

2) Return the machine and claim the modem and sound card are not working, and should be fixed under warrantee. Then run Belarc to get a current list of all hardware installed..

Good luck!

 

Take out the modem and look for a FCC ID number or model number on the card, go here , use the member login using the username "driver" and the password "all ". After login look on the bottom of the page for Driver Search, and enter the model number or FCC ID.
Here is another driver page. But you will need to know what you are looking for, or use their driver detective software.
Good luck!

 

I'd approach this a little differently. If you go mucking this up and then tell your friend to take it back to the guy she bought it from, he would be well within his rights to tell your friend to take a hike. Why not take it back to the guy who sold it to her and get it fixed for free? How long has she had this machine? Did the modem work when she first got it? When did it stop working? And, why are you speculating about the sound card? Does it work? Did it work when she first got the machine?

Somehow, I think there is more to this story than you have told us. Why do you say the seller keeps charging her more money? For what? What else has happened?

If you are afraid to pull the case apart, just how much experience do you have? I'm not trying to challenge your credentials or ability, but lets get a little more background information here. When did this modem problem first rear its ugly head?

I've seen perfectly good systems go south very quickly when a "little knowledge" proved to be the main culprit. The good news is, most anything is fixable if the right person is fixing it. Again, I'm not challenging you or your ability - however, I think we are missing a couple few chapters in the history of this "modem problem ".

 

Duh on me - just read your link to the previous thread which gave some background info. Like I said, I've seen perfectly good systems go south very quickly when a little knowledge proved to be the main culprit.

I'd have the idiot who tried to use a Gateway OEM disk pay for the whole thing but thats probably not going to happen either.

Pull the case off. Pull everything except video. Clear CMOS, reset the bios to setup. FDISK and format the drive. Do a clean install from an OEM98 disk. Find your MB drivers at the mfg website, install them and then start adding cards back, starting with the sound card. You're going to need drivers for those that windows doesn't recognize and you have some work ahead of you.

As to the guy who sold this to her, he should charge her for any work from this point forth.

Sorry to say, but ..... ( "she has a friend who knows a lot about computers" and ......... he sure fixed her machine up, didn't he?)

 

I am assuming from the first post here that there is some version of an OS on the Machine and the OS is at least operating. I see no other way the mentioned problem could arise.

Now, in going over both posts, I am more than ever inclined to think that the MODEM is the cause of the problem.

A lot of Internal Modems DO NOT take well to OS changes.

They can be a very obnoxious, stubborn, refuse to change IRQ, mess up PCI IRQ Steering, conflict causing piece of hardware.

Oh I forgot. They can also stop a Sound card and/or a Network card from installing properly.

And the sad part is that 9 times out of 10 the conflicts DO NOT show in the Device Manager.

That is my assesment of the situation.

BillyBob

 

It's fixed. . .

and she's happy.

Many thanks to all of you for the help and suggestions.

I finally took the crashed box to a reputable local computer shop along with the Win95 and 98 Update CDs she had from her old computer and their tech got everything back to normal.

He said that he hadn't seen a computer that messed up for a while so I didn't feel bad about not being able to do much with it. The bottom line here was $75 for the tech's 5+ hours.

I took her computer back to her and hooked it all up and then drove her over to the "computer killer's" house where I got reimbursed. All is well now and we all learned something. Our friend learned to not allow just anyone to tinker with her computer. My wife learned to NOT volunteer me for any projects without at least asking me first. I learned to not take on someone else's "basket case" unless it is an old Mopar and all the parts and pieces are there.

Thanks, again !!


Mike