Vista - PC won't boot after installing PCI Wireless Adapter

Hello.

I am new to Vista and my o/s is telling me I have Vista Home Premium (64 bit Operating System).

My PC is a Packard Bell iPower X9810. Motherboard is MS-7380

I wanted to insert a wireless PCI adapter into one of the vacant slots in my machine.

I purchased an Edimax wireless 802.11n 32 bit PCI adapter (model = EW-7728in).

I thought, after reading countless reviews this was going to be easy

So I popped it in and switched my machine back on (holding my breath). I saw the initial Packard Bell splash screen then was presented with a black empty screen with a flashing cursor in the top left hand corner

At this point I was rather concerned because I could hear my machine making a whiring noise (it didn't sound good).

After administering some smelling salts I proceeded to re-start crossing my fingers and it happened again. On the 3rd attempt I eventually got a sort of recovery screen that gave me one of two options 1) attempt a repair or 2) continue trying to load windows. I selected the first option and again held my breath...

After roughly 10 mins it had performed a system restore and I had turned back the clock to a previously known good state.

For the life of me I cannot understand why this happened. The manual that came with the card said to pop the adapter in the slot > boot up > run CD-ROM and hey presto but that did not happen.

When I looked at the mobo inside the machine the 2 PCI slots are ever so slightly offset and don't align tru with the covers you ping off the back of the tower. However, I must advise that the adapter went in without much of a struggle but must of " slightly " been on the wonk as I have already said the slots are not 100% in line with were the aerials stick out the back.

I'm scared to death now of breaking my machine and don't know what to do? The Edimax website says this is compatible with my 64 bit Vista so what gives??

::: EDIMAX Technology :::

Have you tried installing the driver for it first and then installing the card.

No - still suffering from post traumatic shock

I've not had the machine 2 mins and I've come scarily close to stuffing it up. Have you heard of this before?

Would it be safe to run the Setup.exe and install the driver before inserting the card into my computer?

The manual said to do it the other way around

How long did you see that screen with the cursor. Its worth a try and see if it will install the driver.

the screen with the flashing cursor seemed like an eternity plus the tower was making an awful noise (stopped now though since the restore) but it was like something was repeatedly spinning then stopping then spinning again

before I got the opportunity to restore the black screen with the cursor would disappear (totally black screen) then the vista scrolling bar would appear then vanish....it was really struggling to boot into windows

I'm hesitant to rock the boat now seeing as it is back up and running (having to make do with my mobile broadband dongle for now...painfully slow)

why would anyone install a driver for a device that isn't even in the machine ? seems odd

sweet success baby !!!

after much deliberation, I decided to install the driver software first (direct from manufacturer website) then I inserted the PCI adapter (I also chose a different slot for good measure) and BINGO!

it booted up right the first time and I'm happy to report my internet connection is significantly faster

a big thank you for your help

now I need help making a recovery disk since the utility that came with my machine is VERY flaky (yep the app was made by Packard Bell) as it has wasted 2 blank DVD's now coz it hangs mid-way through..grr and my machine didn't come with any backup discs

any idea how to make a copy of my Vista or is that for a different thread? I can't even make an ISO since I don't even have a disk to copy?

I'm glad that with my help that you got your network card installed.

Did you use DVD-R disc and not the other kinds.

I used DVD-RW discs when trying to create my recovery disc but it kept bombing out...why?

I tried to use DVD-RW for my computer but it did the same thing as yours did so I would try using DVD-R to make your recovery discs.