If this info is still pertinent, I just came across this post by accident and figured I'd add the solution.
Had this issue on an old laptop made current, Dell Studio XPS M1340, I upgraded SSD, RAM & OS to Windows 10 a couple months ago...
As you probably know because you're here, starting off, you need another machine to get the NIC driver.
Here's the link: NVidia NForce Driver Pack: https://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce-vista-win7-64bit-15.56-driver.html
*Read the rest if you think you'll get stuck getting the other drivers installed to the most recent releases.
The Chipset on the Dell motherboard is an NVidia nForce. My go to driver updater,
SlimDrivers (https://www.slimwareutilities.com/slimdrivers.php), showed me it's recognized as an
nForce 730i even though it isn't. NVidia MCP79 Chipset is the manufacturer SOC, no longer supported so info beyond Windows Vista around 2010 and only 32-but. Those old drivers worked for some stuff not included in the current
GeForce 9400M G: http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/87987/en
NVidia NForce Driver Pack saved the day but they were also from 2011. Got me my NIC driver so
SlimDrivers was able to take care of the rest.
Once the NIC is installed, just let SlimDrivers or however you choose to acquire anything missing but start with the latest GPU Drivers for your NVidia Chip. For NVidia download, you need to:
- Install Java: https://www.java.com/en/download
- Go back & Run NVidia Scan from Internet Explorer or other browser. Anything but Microsoft Edge. As it won't run, Java isn't a piece of it any longer...
So, even though SlimDrivers gave me what I needed, I wanted to find the direct package from NVidia &/or Dell. Had to search for the driver for the NIC (Another machine was needed at first but it was found immediately on
Dell or Other OEM but the driver will be very old).
NVidia NForce NIC, APU, Coprocessor, SMBUS are major system components. Some other odds & ends are also in there aren't a big deal. Just get the NIC on and try Windows 10 Update. It does a very good job at finding drivers
if you have that search on in the Windows Update Settings. I have never seen on any other machine cause this much aggravation and take roughly a day of web scouring to conquer 64-bit driver updates but if you followed this you shouldn't
have those issues and will be good to go from NVidia with the install of the NIC, GPU, run SlimDrivers scan and follow whatever it finds...
*Make sure to save the NForce Driver Pack or at least the Ethernet Driver from it to a NAS or some type of media, just not on the OS drive of the NForce computer as you will need it again at some point.
