Can a built-in ethernet card not be replaceable by a modular card?

[berliita]

My motherboard has a built-in ethernet card. I've recently purchased a new ethernet card, and tried to fit it into my motherboard, to replace the built-in card, but i've found no fitting slot. Is it possible that my motherboard has no slot for a modular ethernet card, or is it the case that since it has a built-in card, it must have the slot as well, and i just haven't looked closely enough?

 

[akhilles]

Look at the package. Is it PCI/PCI-E/ISA?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industry_Standard_Architecture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Component_Interconnect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pci-e

 

[jitpublisher]

You should determine the type of slots you have available on your motherboard, THEN you buy the correct card to fit the slot you have available.

 

[berliita]

Thanks for responding, akhilles.
The front cover of my ethernet card's user manual reads: "PCI 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet Card".

 

[berliita]

Thanks for responding, jitpublisher. You're right, of course. I'm a PC hardware newbie. When i bought the card, i wasn't aware there were different kinds of slot...

 

[zenmaster]

Why are you trying to replace the on-board card.
The only good reason would be because it went bad.

There is no performance gain from replacing it.

 

[runswindows95]

You should have a PCI slot on your motherboard, but as zenmaster asked, why do you need a new LAN card?

 

[berliita]

To zenmaster and runswindows95 (BTW, do you really?):
I've recently erased my OS accidentally, and when i'd reinstalled it, it didn't recognize my ethernet card anymore, and i couldn't connect to the internet. That's why i bought the new card.

 

[runswindows95]

Well, once you get online, download the drivers for the integrated LAN card, burn them to CD, and return the other one if you can. Also, yes, I still mess around with Windows 95.

 

[berliita]

Will do. Thanks.

 

[ausch30]

What computer are you using to get online now? You can get the driver and save it to a thumb drive and install it on your system. Also I don't know if the system was OEM or if you or someone else built it but you should have a disk either from your manufacturer or came with the motherboard which has the drivers on it. Sometimes the drivers can be hard to find I remember a board I had and I needed a ethernet driver for it and Asus didn't have it on their site so I had to find out which chip the board used (it was an Intel chip) and go to their site and hunt down the driver there.

 

[truromeo4juliet]

if it's got built in ethernet, chances are the board has a plethora of PCI slots and a shortcoming on ISA... if it's PCI-E, chances are he's using PCI anyway, as pci-e ethernet cards are no where near as common as PCI ethernet cards, and you really only seem to come across them when shopping if you specifically look for one...

also, by 'found no fitting slot' he could mean that he's run out of slots... if you have unnecessary stuff like a 56k modem installed, remove it and use that slot instead...

 

[Shadow703793]

You need to reinstall the drivers for the LAN to work.

 

[berliita]

Thanks, people. I really appreciate your helpfulness. I've followed runswindows95's advice and installed the driver, which i'd downloaded and burnt on a DVD. Lo and behold - the problem's fixed.

 

[jitpublisher]

Excellent! Glad you got it working. Hopefully you can return the card you purchased!