Corrupted/Missing NVIDIA nForce 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Network Adaptor

Question

Yesterday, when I went into Network Connections in Control Panel and enabled the Ethernet feature (to use an Ethernet-based router), it disappeared from the Network Connection window. When I now look in Device Manager, there is an exclamation mark next to "NVIDIA nForce 10/100 Mbps Ethernet" under "Network adapters". The device status is "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)".

Driver details:

Provider:
NVIDIA

Date:
12 Dec 2010

Version:
73.3.5.0

Signer:
Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

My system:

Motherboard:
GeForce6100SM-M2 (contains on-board Ethernet connection)

Graphics (as reported by Speccy utility):
GeForce 6100 nForce 405

OS:
Windows XP SP 3

What is the best way to fix the driver issue? I have a CD that came with my motherboard. However, I had this in December 2007, but the driver I have installed says 2010. Would it be okay to install an older version from this CD? Is a 2010 (or better) stable version available from any official source? Do I need to uninstall the existing driver first? I tried running Windows Update (www.update.microsoft.com) but it did not recommend any Ethernet driver. Also, I would like to install just the Ethernet driver, since my system appears to be working well and stable otherwise.

Many Thanks.

Solution

This is the solution that worked for me to fix the Ethernet driver issue on Windows XP:

1. Create a Restore Point.
2. In Device Manager, right-click on the Ethernet Driver under Network Adapters and select Uninstall. The item will be removed from the list.
3. Restart PC.
4. Upon restarting, Windows says "New Hardware Found" and displays this message: "The file 'nvefdxp.sys' on NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller Driver Disk 1 is needed. Type path...". I changed the given path from "C:\windows\softwaredistribution\download\install" to "C:\WINDOWS\system32\ReinstallBackups\0001\DriverFiles" and proceeded. (I found the file in this location by searching drive C using UltraSearch utility.)
5. The driver is now loaded correctly. I do have an older version than before: 67.8.9.0 (01 Aug 2008) instead of 73.3.5.0 (12 Aug 2010). However, it appears to work fine and stable.

A few things I tried that weren't successful in resolving the issue:

1. Reinstalling from Motherboard CD - When installing just the Ethernet I got an error "ForceWare Network Access Manager is not available on this system." and installation was aborted.
2. SlimDrivers Free Utility - This identified 6 drivers to update, but none specifically for Ethernet.
3. Windows Update (via www.update.microsoft.com and Device Manager) - Did not find any Ethernet driver to install.

Comments

[Goto10]

Just checked the CD that came with the motherboard. There is a LAN folder on it which contains NAMSetup.exe. The readme file says - Nvidia Ethernet Driver, v65.48, Release 22 Dec 2006.