I'm on WinXP Pro on AMD 1800 and facing the same problem. I bought a SMC Networks NIC SMC1244TX but XP recognised it as a Realtek one but couldn't install the driver because of 'invalid data'. I read that XP needs to be reinstalled with the network installed beforehand. Is there other solutions? Pls help, thanks.

"reinstall XP with the NIC already installed"? that is a crock, where did you hear that?

Hey, mike, that advice will probably work. On the other hand, you can attempt to fix it without reinstalling. If you're uncomfortable using REGEDIT to edit the Windows registry, too bad--this is the only way I know how to manually stick it to the HAL: Open the registry editor by entering “regedit” in the Start Menu’s RUN box. Navigate to the following registry folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Enum/PCI You’ll see a bunch of folders resembling the following: VEN_1002&DEV_5144&SUBSYS_001A1002&REV_00. Each one of these folders contains one or more subfolders (Example: 4&2299ae5b&0&2808). If you open a subfolder, you’ll see a bunch of registry keys associated with a single PCI device—the DeviceDesc key indicates which PCI device that is. In my example subfolder, the DeviceDesc key says “Radeon 7200.” That means all these registry keys are related to my Radeon 7200 video card. Now, find the subfolder that contains a DeviceDesc key that describes your SMC network card . . . if Windows IDs it by its Realtek chipset, it may say Realtek something-or-other rather than SMC. You’ll probably have to search a few of the VEN_ folders’ subfolders before you find the subfolder containing the right DeviceDesc key. When you’ve located the proper subfolder, right-click it and choose Permissions. You’ll see a list of “Permissions for Everyone.” Select “Allow” under Full Control and then click the OK button. Exit the registry editor. Now you can install your NIC drivers. Make certain that you have the correct XP driver for your specific model of network card, because Windows will no longer be able to stop you if you attempt to install the wrong driver.

Thanks a lot tropic! You've save me the hassle of reinstalling XP. The solution you gave worked like a charm. Thanks for your time =)