Fixing network connection problem of win2k in my EeePC

Last weekend, after I completed the installation of win2k, I found that I can not connect to the Internet. This is kind of strange because the same EeePC, with the same LAN cable, can connect to my router with automatic settings. I checked in Device Manager that the LAN card driver was properly installed and win2k is reporting that it is running without problem.

This weekend, my sister came to visit me and I asked her to help troubleshooting on this. We checked all possibilities, setting IP address manually, but in vain. At last, when I looked into the "Properties" of the "Atheros L2 Fast Ethernet 10/100 Base-T Controller", I noticed something.

This is the first time I came across such wierd issue with win2k, but what I did for remedy is to uncheck the box "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" in the "Power Management" tab of the LAN card properties, and then Internet Explorer can connect immediately to www.google.com.

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Besides this, I also noticed a minor issue using USB mouse. The system response is very slow when I plug in an USB mouse. At first, I thought it is problem with the left button of my mouse, but the problem persist after changing the mouse. Then I found that even the touchpad and the touchscreen have the same problem. But when I disconnect the USB mouse, everything resume normal.

I remember that other forum members on the EeeUser Forum who did installed win2k did not install the Asus touchpad driver, so I am thinking there may be incompatibility of the touchpad driver with USB mouse. I will check on this next weekend.

What I will also work on next weekend is to install the webcam driver. Asus does not provide webcam driver for win2k, but some people have worked this out for EeePC 701 4G as reported in in this thread of the EeeUser Forum and this webpage (in Chinese BIG5) of MindFarm.com. Although I don't expect to use the webcam often, this is just to make the installation complete.