Netgear is hopeless. I tried to setup wireless NIC Adaptor; finally threw it
out. Netgear said thattheyMIGHT have a driver solution by the END of April.
What a joke! I will never buy their gear again,and am advising friends to do
likewise with them.

"PTravel" wrote:
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> Why is it that so many hardware manufacturers seem to know less about Vista
> than I do? I've had two instances, now, in which the information provided
> by the hardware manufacturer was simply WRONG, and I was able to get the
> hardware in question working just fine.
>
> 1. Netgear: I have a GA511 gigabit PCMCIA NIC. When Vista is allowed to
> install it, device manager reports that it's working, but it doesn't.
> Manually tweaking the registers for the NIC got it working with the Vista
> default driver, but I couldn't force it to 1-gig only operation -- it would
> lock up unless allowed to autodetect. When it would autodetect 1-gig, it
> would report the speed as 10 mbps (though actually running at gigabit
> speeds). However, autodetect was unreliable -- half the time it would
> connect at 100 mbps. Repeated contact with Netgear was futile. I finally
> reached a knowledgable tech who told me, "Oh, yeah -- I know about that.
> I'm trying to work something out." Finally, I decided I'd play with other
> drivers for the GA511 chipset, and found an internal alternative driver in
> Vista that works perfectly (except for the false speed report, but that's
> cosmetic only). I can now force the NIC to default to 1-gig and it works
> reliably. So, no new driver necessary.
>
> Way to go, Netgear! How many customers did you lose because you know less
> about your products than they do?
>
> 2. Adaptec SlimSCSI 1480b Cardbus SCSI adapter. I've got some old HP
> scanners lying around. They're very good scanners and I don't want to
> replace them. I used to use them in an XP laptop with an Adaptec 1460c
> PCMCIA SCSI adapter. That card can't be installed under Vista on my new
> laptop. The Adaptec website has a page that lists Vista compatibility for
> its various products. It indicated that, though the 1460c wouldn't work
> underVista, Adaptec's 1480b adapter would, and there were downloadable
> drivers available on the website. I found the card on eBay (great deal --
> $35 for a card that retails for over $200) and went to the Adaptec website
> to download the driver. Well, Adapatec has changed the website -- now the
> Vista page says that it is working on a driver and will have one out
> eventually, but the card will not work with Vista now. Great! Just for
> kicks, I downloaded an old NT driver for the 1480b and installed it.
> Bingo -- Device Manager reports it's working perfectly. I plugged in my
> oldest HP scanner, a LaserJet IIcx that is about 15 years old. Vista
> recognized (despite it not being plug and play!) and installed the right
> driver. All my HP software works perfectly, including the very useful
> Deskcopy utility. So, no new driver necessary.
>
> Way to go, Adaptec! How many customers did you lose because you know less
> about your products than they do?
>
> What is it with these companies? What are their technicians doing, anyway?
> I'm not a computer professional, and I can get their stuff working under
> Vista. Why can't they figure this out?
>
>[/color]