hi, is it possible to delete all drivers in win xp and let it redetect all hardware on next boot up? i know how to do it in win98 by deleting a registry key but not win xp. anyone knows how? thanks.....

Start the PC in 'SAFE MODE' first, then go to device manager and remove the offending entry (shown by having a yellow ! or ? mark). Windows will reinstall the item on next normal boot up. Device manager...... Start - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager. Safe Mode.... Start the PC and keep tapping the F8 key. You will get a screen giving options of how you want to start the PC. Use the keyboard arrow & enter keys to select safe mode. To get out of safe mode, just restart the PC. Post back if this works for you (I'm confident it will). I would do it this way for all Windows OS. I would never do it via editing the registry 'cos that's asking for a problem.

hi michael2, it is actually the ethernet adapter drivers causing problem. in safe mode, there were 6 entry in "network adapter" under "control panel". 1. ati at-2500tx pci fast ethernet 2. direct parallel 3. intel 21041-based pci ethernet adapter 4. intel 21041-based pci ethernet adapter 5. realtek rtl8139/810x family fast ethernet nic 6. winbond w89c940-based ethernet adapter no. 5 is the correct one which is installed in my system, the rest were previously installed cards which already taken out. i've click on them one by one to uninstall but i got message "failed to uninstall device. the device may require to boot up the computer". the only thing i can do is to disable them all.(left with the correct one active.) but, still, sometimes the system boot to desktop and freeze. sometimes everthing runs fine.