Ethernet not working

Question

***Edit - he found an option to roll back to Windows 10, which he did and now the Ethernet is working again***

Hi there,

My 13yo son built a gaming computer about 6 months ago. He read that he should replace the thermal paste every 6 months, so 10 days ago, he did that. The computer worked beautifully before he replaced the thermal paste, but after he completed the replacement, he encountered a couple issues. First, when he booted up the machine, everything he had installed was gone. The OS ( Windows 11) remained, but every program and file was gone. Is this normal? He thought it might have happened because he also disconnected the CPU when replacing the thermal paste, but wasn't sure if that was the cause or not.

More frustratingly, the Ethernet is no longer working. When he rebooted the computer, he noticed the globe icon with the little red circle with a line through it. We have done a million different troubleshooting things and nothing is working. Please see below for details:

64 gigabytes RAM

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 cpu

Asus Rog Strix gaming motherboard

750 watt power supply

Geforce GTX 1650 graphics card

Corsair case

Originally installed Microsoft Windows 10 OS, upgraded to 11 about 5 months ago).

He has run the Microsoft troubleshooter and at times gets a response that the error cannot be found. Other times, the error message is as follows:

"Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration."

In case it helps, I pulled up the properties for the Ethernet:

Intel(R) Ethernet Controller (3) 1225-V

per Events tab:

Device not started (e2fexpress)

per General tab:

This device is working properly.

We have:

-confirmed the internet service is working properly

-confirmed the modem is working properly

-purchased a new Ethernet cord

-rebooted the computer

-rebooted the modem

-removed the fan and reinstalled/re-seated the CPU

-turned the power off, disconnected the power supply, held the power button for 30 seconds, then rebooted the machine

-turned the power off, disconnected the power supply, removed the motherboard coin battery, held the power button for 30 seconds, then rebooted the machine

-uninstalled and reinstalled the Ethernet driver (numerous times)

-disabled fast startup

We have done literally dozens of other troubleshooting suggestions thanks to Google's vast number of search results, but nothing is working.

Thank you to anyone who can help my kiddo! He researched how to build his own computer, then mowed a ****-ton of lawns this summer to save enough money to buy all of the components for this machine. He is so frustrated right now but I'm very hopeful that someone can help him/us.

Answer 1

Okay, no problem, but if that's the case, you can provide a photo taken from a cell phone so that we can consult more information about this hardware.

Answer 2

Great, thank you for this info, I will make sure he knows to do that from now on!

Answer 3

Hi Kati,

In any case thermal paste replacement every 6 months is not recommended, so the information is incorrect. Please ask your son to just blow the dust every 6 months, which is enough.

Answer 4

Hi Paloma,

Thanks for your response. Since the computer was built by my son, it doesn't have a model, and unfortunately we can't share any screenshots since the internet isn't working. He's actually trying to roll back to Windows 10, so hopefully that will solve the problem. If it doesn't work, I'll take actual photos of the items you requested screenshots of and we'll go from there. Thanks again!

Answer 5

Hello, how are you?

Could you share your computer model? Press Windows+R, type msinfo32 and click OK, when opening the info window, send me a printscreen please.

Does Device Manager show an error regarding the network adapter?

Press Windows+X and select Device Manager and share a screenshot please.