Finding drivers for an "unknown device"
This is going to get a bit complicated, but here goes!:
0) Start -> <RIGHT-click> My Computer -> select "Properties" (at bottom)
1) Select the "Hardware" tab, then the "Device Manager" button
2) Right-click the "?"-marked "unknown device & choose "Properties" from the pop-up
3) Normally the device name & info would be displayed at the top of the displayed tab(s), but you'll get no help there for an "unknown device," I'm afraid! Instead, select the "Details" tab, which by default should be showing the "Device Instance Id" in the large, mostly-blank pane.
Here's where it gets tricky....
There should be a LONG string displayed in that pane. Here's one of mine as an example:
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8169&SUBSYS_816910EC&REV_10\4&1F7DBC9F&0&00F0
Each "level's" portion of this string gives specific info about the device:
PCI = This is a PCI device (useless for us here....)
VEN_10EC = The VENDOR_ID for this device is "10EC" (IMPORTANT INFO!)
DEV_8169 = That vendor's DEVICE_ID for this device is "8169" (GOOD STUFF!)
[Ignore the rest for now, but save the string info somewhere handy in case you need to reference it again later....]
Now cross your fingers and go to Google and do a search for the string "Vendor 10EC" (w/o quotes, and with YOUR VENDOR_ID string) and follow some of the top-most matches until you find a page listing DEVICE_IDs from that vendor. [Sorry I can't give you a specific page on which to do this, as the source varies a lot based on the vendor in question.]
Now scan that page (use browser's "Find" function) to find the matching DEVICE_ID and - AMAZINGLY! - there's the name/model of your device!
CATCH: You MAY need to also use the SUBSYS_ID string to further narrow down the device specifics. This can get dicey and much harder to find out, I'm afraid. Undecided In my example, this was indeed the case, however: The link for DEVICE_ID of "8169" takes me to another page, where I this time search for the SUBSYS_ID of "8169:10EC". AHA! I have found a "Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family PCI Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.0)" device! Which is... ABSOLUTELY CORRECT(!), matching the device info for the device that I had chosen!
4) Close out of all the windows via their "Cancel" buttons....
5) Using the specific device name that you've now found (and possibly a handy link to the drivers for that device at the website where you found the device info!) Google search for (or use the link in front of you!) to grab the drivers for that device and give them a try!
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