1.

Open registry editor (start->run->regedit)

2. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

3. Inside that we’ll have several sub-keys.Each sub-key will represent a physical or
virtual adapter.

4. Move to each sub-key until Ethernet adapter is found in my case driverDesc was
Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller.

5. Inside sub-key for Ethernet adapter we’ll have value named NetCfgInstanceId.
Copy it’s value somewhere.

6. Now navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\
{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

7. Inside that key look for a sub-key named as the value that you copied previously
in step 5.

8. Expand that key and we’ll have a sub-key named Connection.

9. In my case Connection only had one value named as PnpInstanceID

10. I added the following values. (by rightclicking and selecting new)

Name Type Value

DefaultNameIndex REG_DWORD(QWORD) 0
DefaultNameResourceId REG_DWORD(QWWORD) 0x07
Name REG_SZ(String) Local Area Connection

11. Restarted PC and I was able to see local area connection in “change adapter
settings”. Also icon in task bar that was not updating previously now showed correct
status.
0007

Intel(R) 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection

{2476DA24-0C09-4615-B8B2-C7BF5A1109A7}

DefaultNameIndex REG_DWORD(QWORD) 0

DefaultNameResourceId REG_DWORD(QWWORD) 70b (1803)

0013

3Com EtherLink 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

{4519650B-C0C6-4ED8-9BF5-9BA65908662D}

DefaultNameIndex REG_DWORD(QWORD) 2 (2)

DefaultNameResourceId REG_DWORD(QWWORD) 70a (1802)

While the healthy system registry activity queried for NIC information in the registry, my faulty system
was giving a BUFFER OVERFLOW result when quering for
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\Connections\ClassManagers value. A simple look
to this value seems fine, but when I edited it I just found that for some reason the faulty system had all 4
GUIDs ({B4C8DF59-D16F-4042-80B7-3557A254B7C5},{BA126AD3-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E},
{BA126AD5-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E} and {BA126ADD-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}) in a
single line, instead of in separate lines of this REG_MULTI_SZ value as it should be.

{B4C8DF59-D16F-4042-80B7-3557A254B7C5}

{BA126AD3-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}

{BA126AD5-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}

{BA126ADD-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}
Run chkdsk C: /F /R from the Windows installation DVD,

1. Boot from Windows 7 DVD.

2. Select "Repair Your Computer".

3. Choose your target system.

4. In the recovery tool panel, choose Command Prompt.

5. Run chkdsk <your target drive>/: /F /R

When you run check disk from the installation DVD, windows will try to recover corrupted files
and fix them.

I have tried it and it works every time.