I have an old Compaq 7478 running 98SE, it runs great except won't recognize any PCI cards that I put in. My problems started when I removed an ethernet card that I had used successfully for 2+ years. I put the old 56K modem back in but it wasn't detected. I didn't know it at the time but I think the ethernet card had changed some bios settings. I wasn't aware of how easy it is to enter the bios and reset defaults ( which has been done at this point ), I can't remember exactly what I did to magnify my problem but I think I may have played with some IRQ settings, or even more foolishly, the registry. My system has 4 USB 1.1 ports which all operate normally. I ran the Windows XP upgrade advisor and it gave the following feedback --- PCI Universal Serial Bus ( not currently installed ) !! I have also run Windows 98 Hardware Information Utility ( HWINFO /UI ) and got the following result in RED: Class: System This Device Has a Problem: Code=22 (0x16) This device is disabled. DeviceDesc: ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\enum\ACPI\*PNP0C0F\00000003 Thanks for reading, any assistance greatly appreciated !!

"I wasn't aware of how easy it is to enter the bios and reset defaults ( which has been done at this point )" That was your 1st mistake. Default settings are a starting point, or a fall-back point if you're having problems. BIOS settings are supposed to be 'tailored' for the hardware you have installed. They don't change just because you add or remove a PCI card. "I put the old 56K modem back in but it wasn't detected" It could be the card is defective, or it may not be PnP (plug & play)...& if that's the case, you'd have to *force* Windows to recognize it. If you messed with the registry, you may need to roll back to an earlier setting using scanreg /restore ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

You may have to reload the motherboard drivers first. It sounds like they might have be corrupted. If the system can't "see" the pci slots that may be the issue. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...