Win98 freezes with Netgear NIC card

[wiki]

I'm writing software for a small office, and have become the unofficial tech until a more qualified network person is found. I installed a Netgear Ethernet GA311 card in a win98 stand alone machine. The install went well with no errors, and drivers were found (yeah, I was amazed too). I was able to successfully connect to the internet with the existing multi-port cable modem. I was able to reboot several times, open files, life was good... I went home. The next day I received several calls from the user that their PC would slow down then freeze while using MS Office. I instructed the user to disable McAfee, and unplug the ethernet cable temporarily. Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this issue when I return to their office?

Many thanks in advance!

[GaryRouth]

Seems like you'd want to rule out any malware as a cause as a first step. Something may have slipped in and caused mischief. Even if the McAffee has an antispyware component, you might try installing and scanning with AdAware (http://www.lavasoft.com) or SpyBot (http://www.safer-networking.org) --- and then perhaps stop at HouseCall to doublecheck for viruses (http://housecall.trendmicro.com)

If things run fine with just the ethernet unplugged, but the NetGear's drivers installed and active - then it's likely not anything in the configuration of the card that's causing the trouble.

Infections can happen in the blink of an eye - especially through the IE security holes that worms have been taking advantage of in the past year. Certainly, you'll also want to check that all the security patches are up-to-date.

Best of luck
. . . Gary