Windows 10 update broke my LAN adapter

[OllieKidd]

My LAN adapter isn't working anymore.

My work PC, purchased in 2011, was originally Windows XP and was upgraded to Windows 7 x64 around 2013. It has an Intel DH55HC motherboard and Intel 82578DC LAN adapter. I ran the Windows 10 upgrade and all my network connections died.
I've tried every download available for the 82578DC and windows 8 or 10. They all either fail to run due to incompatibility, or stop halfway with the error "Cannot install drivers. No Intel(R) Adapters are present in this computer". Of course this is impossible since it's part of the motherboard.
It's so painful because absolutely everything else in the upgrade went fine.
If I can't fix it very soon I'll have to wipe my whole computer and reinstall windows 7 from scratch, and reload everything all over again. I can't even restore back because although I did a system restore point, Win10 won't recognise it.
Can someone help me troubleshoot the adapter not being recognised?

Other options:
1. PCI card LAN adapter: Very unlikely to be successful because the motherboard only has one PCI-e slot, which I use for graphics. Using onboard graphics isn't an option because I have 4 monitors. The chance of finding a PCI or PCIx1 LAN adapter with Win10-compatible drivers is low.
2. USB based LAN adapter: if these exist, would they function properly? I do need good network connection quality. Also, I only have USB2.0 ports, no USB3.0's.

Please help.

 

[basroil]

Did you try uninstalling all drivers and just using the generic lan drivers?

 

[Slashgeek]

I'm still searching for a solution for your driver installation woes. But I can address your other options:

1) PCI network adapters often work without configuration right off the bat, and older win7 or win8 compatible drivers should still function under Windows 10. This is why a fresh install of Windows on a laptop will almost assuredly have at least Ethernet-borne internet access available even without drivers.

2) USB Ethernet adapters exist, and are stable enough for the most part. One example:

http://us.dlink.com/products/connect/high-speed-usb-2-0-fast-ethernet-adapter/

 

[Darkbreeze]

Your motherboard has one x16 PCI slot, but it also has two x1 PCI slots, which is perfectly fine for an Ethernet card. Should be a non-issue. I'd go with this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Wired Network Adapter: Intel EXPI9301CT 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter ($22.00 @ Amazon)
Total: $22.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-29 03:45 EDT-0400

 

[OllieKidd]

Thanks everyone VERY much for your time and answers. I'll try those options!

 

[OllieKidd]

Not having any luck.

@basroil: Uninstalled drivers and restarted a couple of times, still didn't work.
@slashgeek: (1) OK, doesn't seem to be working for me. (2) That sounds ok.
@darkbreeze: That's great, but no guarantee that the drivers would work with windows 10. Even if I ordered one, I'd have to wait a week or two, then it still might not work. Not ideal for my work situation.

If it helps anyone, I'd add that opening the device in Device Manager says "This device is working properly", and when I run the installer it says "Windows has decided that the best drivers for your device are already installed".

I also found an old PCI wireless "G" (yeah...) adapter in the cupboard, and successfully installed drivers for that, just to get me out of trouble. It sucessfully installed, all status windows show ok, connected to my network and shows 60% reception, etc, all looks great but still no actual internet access or network share folder access of any sort.

RIGHT NOW I'm jumping in my car and running to the closest Officeworks to try grabbing a USB to LAN adapter to see if that works. None of the models shown on the Officeworks website actually say that they support anything above Win8, but hey it should work really.

Long term, either that will work, or maybe eventually I'll find a driver that works for my onboard LAN adapter.

If anyone has any further help or comments, please say!

Thanks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Card here

Windows 10 driver here

 

[OllieKidd]

Hello everyone! Many thanks for all your help.

The problem is solved with a cruel twist. The issue was self-inflicted...caused by our corporate internet filtering software, Streamline3, having a hiccup with the Windows 10 upgrade. All fixed now.

Unfortunately I'd already driven half an hour to Officeworks and got a D-Link DUB-1213 USB-to-LAN adapter. However, I found it fixed a problem with another machine we had, so the money wasn't wasted. One of our laptops has a broken LAN adapter and is sitting in the office running on wireless, and our wifi isn't too flash right now. The LAN adapter brought an improvement to the tune of 59 times the write speed (from 4.2 to 249 Mbps) and 11 times the read speed (11 to 125 Mbps)!!!

The D-Link software also installed perfectly on Windows 10, even though the box just says Win8. That's once I figured out Microsoft's latest wretched stinking exe blocker which is even worse than User account control in Win7/8.

Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Glad you got it sorted out. Good luck to you Ollie.