Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

To disable or disable, where?

Aug 7, 2004 1:20PM PDT

What's the difference between disabling the NIC (on board) in Device Manager and in the BIOS? It's quicker to do it in Device Manager. But if there's a difference, what is it?

TLIA,

Wayne

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re: To disable or disable, where?
Aug 7, 2004 11:30PM PDT

Hi Wayne well one thing I know I use a certain nic and most on board nic's are not my fav's so I add one and have to disable the on board to add one. Other than that I see only having an irq in confusion. Hope this makes sence.rocky Happy

- Collapse -
Hey Rock-man. . .
Aug 9, 2004 4:07AM PDT

I just wondered if there was any difference in disabling the on board NIC (or any component for that matter) in the BIOS or in Device Manager. In the BIOS you have to reboot and then enter the BIOS, make the changes, then reboot. In Device Manager you do a click.

Are they both the same?

- Collapse -
Re: Hey Rock-man. . .
Aug 9, 2004 5:35AM PDT

If you disable (not remove or uninstall) it in device manager and don't disable it in the BIOS it will just show up as disabled in the device hardware list. Like hot-swapping USB devices.

If you remove it in the BIOS it is similar to physically removing it from the system. If you try to re-enable it in the device manager it will show up as not working.