"...so i thought maybe repair with a XP disk, well that didnt work....""....so i tried to restore and the disks dont work."
That's useless information on it's own -
you need to tell us the details of what you did and what happened.
I don't think your problem has anything to do with the ethernet adapter. I think it just happened to be the last thing recognized before the PXE-E61 error.
When I search with:
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
I get lots of "hits".
This one is more helpful than most:
http://www.dellcommunity.com/suppor...
Going by your other symptoms, if the suggestions at that link don't help, you probably either have a poor connection to the hard drive, or the hard drive is failing.
To rule out a poor connection to the hard drive, such as from the laptop being jarred or dropped...
- remove the AC adapter and the main battery
- open the access to where the hard drive is, and make sure it's connection to the computer is okay and is properly seated. If you can see the make and model of the hard drive write it down.
- while you're at it, open the access to where the ram is and make sure the ram is properly seated in it's slot(s).
- install the main battery, and the AC adapter if you like
- try the computer.
If there is no change in the laptop's behavior, the hard drive may be failing.
The following only applies if you DO NOT have a Toshiba hard drive (there are no manufacturer's diagnostics for them):
Check your hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostics.
See the latter part of response 1 in this:
http://www.computing.net/windows95/...
(thanks to Dan Penny for this link:)
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm...
If you don't have a floppy drive, you can get a CD image diagnostic utility from most hard drive manufacturer's web sites, but obviously you would need to make a burned CD, preferably a CD-R for best compatibilty, on another computer if you need to.
.....
The single Recovery CD that may have come with the computer is probably useless if the hard drive is defective - the second partition on the hard drive must have the data on it as it was when she first got the computer - unchanged, intact, and undamaged - and the Recovery CD must be able to access it.
If she or you made a set of Recovery CDs like you're supposed to when the computer was working fine, you can restore all the original software that came with the computer to a properly working hard drive.