Windows 7 Ethernet cable only works and lights up in minimal safe boot mode

Pundrew

New Member
Joined
May 1, 2014
Messages
16
Whenever I try and boot normally or in safe mode with networking, the ethernet port will not light up at all. When I boot in minimal safe mode, the green and blinking orange work perfectly fine. The realtek pcie gbe family controller driver installs perfectly, but In normal mode I would get code 31 in device manager. Also there is no local area connection in the adapters tab. And the realtek pcie gbe family controller is located located in the unknown tab in device manager. I need help ASAP as I have a research project to do!!! I'm pretty sure the problem started with me being dumb and thinking the pcie thing was for my old graphics card that I replaced and deleted that. The moment I deleted it the Internet cut off and will not reinstall or work anymore. Sorry if it's confusing
 

Solution
What was the last thing you did before it happened?

In safe mode, the computer runs using only all the generic drivers that came with the PC ( hardware upgrades will not be accessible). If you installed or updated the driver for your network controller, you might wanna try uninstalling the driver from Device Manager then reboot the PC and let it find a driver by itself. If that didn't work, install the latest driver that you have just downloaded. Hopefully it is just a corrupt driver issue which is what code 31 is all about.

Can you post a screenshot of your network and sharing center screen?
Sort of always the case.... just when you need something the most.
Try an elevated command prompt and run the native System File Checker. Just type
sfc /scannow
and hit enter, just to see if there may be some windows corruption.
It's kinda why I suggested a quick and dirty Linux distro boot above.
There could be any number of things going on in Windows that might be causing some difficulties. Not the least of which might be some problem spots in the Windows Registry.
Have you tried a restore point?
 

Re-read the OP. No adapter working in normal boot or safe mode with networking boot. And lights not withstanding I can pretty much tell you that he isn't going to have a network connection in plain jane safe mode.
He won't have a network connection because not everything needed for one is loaded in minimal safe mode. However, it shows that the problem isn't hardware and the problem should be in what is additionally loaded in safe mode.
 

Sort of always the case.... just when you need something the most.
Try an elevated command prompt and run the native System File Checker. Just type
sfc /scannow
and hit enter, just to see if there may be some windows corruption.
It's kinda why I suggested a quick and dirty Linux distro boot above.
There could be any number of things going on in Windows that might be causing some difficulties. Not the least of which might be some problem spots in the Windows Registry.
Have you tried a restore point?
I wanted to do a restore point really badly but when I went to do it, apparently it was off the whole time and wasn't saving any points.. Sucks so much. Anyways I turned it on for when I need it in the future
 

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