This is 2plus2er Sugar Nut on a throwaway account. For the first time ever I've recently had a malware issue and since that usually doesn't happen to me, I thought I don't even bother trying to remove it, and just re-installed WindowsXP.

I now have a "naked" XP sp2 on my system, and I cannot run windows update, because it simply won't recognize the network card in my motherboard, into which my DSL box is plugged. I'm afraid I've also been a stupid idiot and several months ago might have by accident thrown away the CD that came with the motherboard (drivers and stuff).

Right now I'm on a Ubuntu OS that's running straight from CD, and funny enough, it doesn't have any problems whatsoever recognizing the network card and thus my internet connection (hence why I can post this right now at least).

My motherboard is the:

"SY-KT400 Dragon Ultra Platinum Edition"

It was produced by Soyo who unfortunately seem to be out of business. I tried getting the drivers from somewhere on the internet, and there's an abundance of sites that offer these. However they all seem shady as ****, and most of the stuff you find I suspect is adware if I'm lucky, and worse if I'm not.

Cliffs:

• Windows XP SP2 doesn't recongnize network connection
• Driver CD not available
• Drivers on internet suspected shady
• Hardware works fine - Ubuntu recognizes everything

What can I do to make windows acknowledge the fact that, yes indeed, there is "teh interwebs" in my PC ?

Do you have or can get access to another network card? They are cheap and usually in abundance. I know I have a ton here and even thrown a few out. It may not be the best idea but might be less headaches in the long run

yeah you could pop in another and run the disk for it, probably your best bet. Or maybe your modem has a USB connection you can try?

To see what chipset your network adapter uses, run the following command in the Terminal program on Ubuntu:
lspci | grep net

Then Google for the manufacturer's name, find their website, and sleuth out the driver download.

Since you don't have the original disc(s) with drivers, did your xp reinstall come from a legitimate disc?

Because ubuntu recongnizes it and can use it, it more than likely used a basic driver to run it, unless the ubuntu version is old enough to possibly have a dedicated driver for when that card was manufactured.

A combination of these two issues may offer an answer. If xp did not come from a legit disc, it's possible it's basic drivers are corrupted or otherwise unimplementable. I dig cowb0y's response as well.

The XP is legit. The Uuntu version is 12.04. I simply don't understand why one runs it and the other doesn't.

Do I have to install Ubuntu to run this Terminal program? Because right now, while running it from CD I can't find it, but this could also be due to me being unfamiliar with Ubuntu.

I'll keep trying. Thanks for all replies and suggestions.

Most likely the adapter is newer than Service Pack 2, but mature enough that a driver is included in recent Linux versions.

Yes, Terminal will be on the Live CD (it's a core utility). Take a look at these to figure out how to run/find it (I don't use Ubuntu, I prefer KDE-based distros):
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/terminal
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal/

You sir are Teh Awesome!!!

I'm typing this from my still naked, but online winXP system!

Thanks a million!

Glad to help. I recommend keeping a Linux live CD lying around for just such emergencies. Actually, I've been running Linux as my primary desktop OS for about 8 years now (I run Windows virtualized using VirtualBox software). Guess how many malware incidents I've had. I recommend Mepis Linux.