So I've got a LAN party in just two days and I've hit a major snag: my Ethernet isn't working at all, and there's no Ethernet adapter showing up in the device manager. This issue started happening after I did a fresh Windows 11 installation. At first, everything was working fine after booting up, but it suddenly stopped. I even tried wiping the system, deleting all partitions, and reformatting before reinstalling Windows, but the network adapter is completely missing. It feels like this might be a hardware issue with my motherboard, but I can't be sure. I've manually installed the chipset and LAN drivers, and I've done all the updates possible. I went for a fresh install again, but still no luck picking up the hardware. For some context, the entire reinstall was prompted by issues I had when trying to install HyperX's Ngenuity software, which seemed to mess up my system. If anyone has any ideas or solutions, I'll take anything—I've only got two evenings left to fix this before the LAN party!
4 Answers
Hey, don’t forget about Wi-Fi! You could actually connect without a LAN cable at all if your Wi-Fi is working. Just a thought!
Make sure to check if the BIOS sees the network card. I’m guessing it’s the integrated one you’re having trouble with. Also, it might be worth booting from a Linux live environment to see if the Ethernet works there.
If you can't fix it, consider grabbing a USB to Ethernet adapter from brands like Ugreen or Anker—should be easy to find on Amazon. It's a solid backup plan if your onboard Ethernet is gone for good.
Totally sounds like a hardware issue with your motherboard if it’s not showing up at all. If you have a spare PCIe slot, you could install a PCIe network card. Otherwise, if you've got a USB-C or Thunderbolt port, a USB-C to Ethernet adapter could also save the day.
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