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Off topic but maybe some computer professionals in here. I have a computer with 3 LAN ports on it that I have to configure for a system, and I need to configure all 3 LAN ports with IP addresses. Problem is when I open the network sharing center I only have options for LAN2 and LAN3 and I should have LAN1 LAN2 LAN3 and sometimes I see LAN4 available to configure as well. Can anyone tell me how to get the LAN1 option added? I am not at the computer but I believe it is windows 2000 or XP. This is a screen shot of what I am seeing with only LAN2 and LAN3 available, need to add LAN1 as well.
That looks like Windows 2000. It's been a decade or more since I've worked on that. Take my with a grain of salt. I offer no guarantees.
I suspect that either the computer doesn't see one of the network cards, or that it doesn't have the proper driver installed for the card. I'd check the network devices in the device manager:
From the start menu, Open Control Panel
In the Control Panel, double-click the Systems icon.
In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab.
On the Hardware tab, click Device Manager
Check to see how many devices are under network adapters.
If there are only two, then you will most likely need to power off the machine, open the case, and re-seat the network cards, close the case, power back on, and hope nothing broke. If you are lucky, then the system will see the missing network and you can configure as needed.
If there are three, but one shows an issue, then you may need to re-install the driver. That might not be possible if you don't have a copy of the driver handy. Support for 2000 ended quite a while back, so it may not be possible to find the driver if you don't already have it.
It is also possible that you don't have a separate NIC for each LAN port. You may have a dual NIC, and can set up one connection for 2 of the ports on one subnet and the other port on another. Still another possibility is that you only have one NIC, where all 3 LAN ports would be on the same subnet, and the other LAN connection may be for a different adapter altogether (i.e. VPN). Checking the network hardware in the Device Manager, as JP mentions, is certainly the first thing to do.
Scott
Thanks, so far no luck, this is a small remote computer that I am accessing using VNC, and I cannot get inside the computer yet to check hardware so I dont want to guess what is in there. Device manager shows an intel PCI adapter and an Intel pro VE network connection under the network adapters.
