I hope someone can help me with this problem as neither Microsoft or any of the lan card manufacturers can, The card is a standard Belkin ethernet pci card, Im running xp pro that recognises the card, starts the hardware wizard which in turn starts to install the driver, Then, stops, with the message Quote "cannot install this hardware, Ethernet controller, The Data is invalid" unquote. The card appears in hardware devices as realtec F5D5000 Ethernet controller but has a yellow exclamation mark against it (cos it hasn't installed) now here is the twist, i use a removable carrier for my HDD (so i can work between office and home) I just happened to slot in my daughters Hdd which is the same make and size by the way, so i could help her with some work, now the only difference was that she was on xp HOME edition, it booted up, came up with the usual comment that it needed an activation key in so many days (cos the drive was in a different system), it recognised the belkin card,installed a driver for it, and it works, so simply Why in XP Home and not in XP Pro.can someone please help before i have to go out and buy a Wig,?

ShuttleMaster, One of Windows registry's quirks! Win XP Pro Registry automatically records SOME info on the device but makes it as 'read only' and will not allow the driver install to properly complete, giving the "Data is invalid" error:-( Here are two options to prevent you from becoming bald:-) A. Registry Editing to see if that will fix the problem. If that fails try: B. Fresh Reinstall of Windows leaving the Belkin Ethernet Card in the PCI slot, is your other option.[Steps omitted because you know how] A.Registry Editing 1. Click Start >Run and in Open: box type in REGEDT32 and press [ENTER] key. [ Note: it is NOT REGEDIT] 2.Open the following Registry key by clicking the + by the left side of the Hive + HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and sequentially click open the remaining Keys and sub-keys to expand the following : + HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\PCI 3. Next you click the + PCI key to reveal a number of Sub-keys. Each sub-key name has a long Alpha numeric string that starts with a common VEN_...... (where ... are letters and or numbers) 4. Click + VEN_ ........, it will open other sub-sub keys (folders). 5. Click open the first sub-key (=folder) that shows up under the opened VEN_.... with a long string of numbers and letters and in the RIGHT panel of the Registry look under Name column for an entry named DeviceDesc that has a description containing the name of the device (Your Belkin NIC in this case)you are having trouble installing. 6. You may have to search all of the listed + VEN_ ........ keys and the sub-keys that open to find out where the "DeviceDesc" for your Belkin PCI Ethernet Device is listed. 7. When you find the correct folder containing the "DeviceDesc" for your Belkin PCI Ethernet Device, then , from the REGEDT32 menu bar, click Edit > Permissions...> Security tab . In the divided window that opens, go to the bottom window and under Permissions for everyone locate Full Control option and then click the check box of Allow in that row. 8. Close the Registry Editor. 9. Reinstall the Belkin Driver using the Disc. 10 Check the Device Manager. for + Network Adapters If this fails or you consider too hard [:-)] to go through, then your option is B. Windows XP Reinstall. M How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

I forgot to include the usual Registry Editing Precaution: ALWAYS Backup the Key you are editing. In case of a foul up during editing or failure to solve the problem, you can Restore the Regsitry to its previous state by clickng and merging the Saved Regsitry Key to the Registry. 1.After you open the Main Keys and subkeys to your "Target key", from the Registry Edititor menubar Click File>Export> 2. Give a name to the file in the Export Registry dialog box. 3. Save it to a folder for easy retrieval . If troubleshoot solves the problem, you may delete the saved key after waiting long enough to feel convinced. M How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

Alternately visit Belkin's website and d/l the latest drivers for your NIC. Uninstall the existing NIC drivers and reinstall, but instead of letting XP automatically install the existing driver select "Have disk", navigate to the fresh drivers, and install these.

To Orion Have previously tried that but did not work, in fact believe it or not it made things slightly worse as XP commented that the driver was not recommended for this hardware,(Belkin are now aware of this)but thanks for your help anyway. To Maadhurimn It appears that you may have come across this error before yourself as no one else seems to have seen it, so well done! I could not find anything relating to this card when i searched the registry before under Belkin or Realtec, but now that you have given me a particular area to look then i shall have another go, Im quite familiar with the registry but certainly no expert so I appreciate your concern about editing and backing up, I shall leave it until the weekend when i shall have some peace and quite, will let you know how ive got on, This must be my last option Im sure as ive tried every thing else (I think). Many thanks for your help.