Error message when you try to set an IP address on a network adapter

This article was previously published under Q269155
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Article ID : 269155
Last Review : February 28, 2007
SYMPTOMS Revision : 3.3
CAUSE
RESOLUTION
Method 1
Method 2
MORE INFORMATION
SYMPTOMS
When you trying to set the IP address on a network adapter, you may receive the following error
message:
The IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX you have entered for this network adapter is
already assigned to another adapter Name of adapter. Name of adapter is hidden
from the network and Dial-up Connections folder because it is not physically in the
computer or is a legacy adapter that is not working. If the same address is assigned
to both adapters and they become active, only one of them will use this address.
This may result in incorrect system configuration. Do you want to enter a different
IP address for this adapter in the list of IP addresses in the advanced dialog box?
Where XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX is the IP address that you are trying to set and Name of adapter is the name
of the network adapter that is present in the registry but hidden in Device Manager.
If you click Yes, you see the TCP/IP properties where you can change the IP address to something
different for the currently showing network adapter in Device Manager. If you click No, the IP address is
assigned to the network adapter. Note that if you click No, the selected network adapter in Device
Manager and the ghosted network adapter have the same IP address. In most cases, this does not
cause any problems because the driver is disabled.
CAUSE
A network adapter with the same IP address is in the registry but is hidden in Device Manager. This can
occur when you move a network card from one PCI slot to another PCI slot.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, uninstall the ghosted network adapter from the registry using one of the
following methods:
Method 1
Method 2
The DevCon utility is a command-line utility that acts as an alternative to Device Manager. When you
use DevCon, you can enable, disable, restart, update, remove, and query individual devices or groups of
devices. To use DevCon, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd.exe, and then press ENTER.
2. Type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1, and then press ENTER.
3. Type Start DEVMGMT.MSC, and then press ENTER.
4. Click View, and then click Show Hidden Devices.
5. Expand the Network Adapters tree.
6. Right-click the dimmed network adapter, and then click Uninstall.
1. Download the DevCon tool by clicking the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
311272 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/) The DevCon command-line utility functions
as an alternative to Device Manager
2. Unpack the 32-bit or 64-bit DevCon tool binary to a local folder.
3. Click Start, click Run, then type cmd and press ENTER.
4. Type CD:\path_to_binaries to navigate to the devcon.exe is located.
5. Use the following syntax to find installed network adapters:
devcon findall =net or
Error message when you try to set an IP address on a network adapter Page 1 of 2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/269155 6/10/2007
MORE INFORMATION
When you receive the error message in the "Symptoms" section, the hidden or ghosted network adapter
does not appear in Device Manager unless you follow the steps in this article. Device Manager does
show a network adapter and it typically has "#2" appended to the name.
APPLIES TO
devcon listclass net
Note In the output of the previous commands, there is a line for the ghosted network adapter
that is similar to the following:
PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_00D81028&REV_78\4&19FD8D60&0&58F0: 3Com
3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller (3C905C-TX Compatible)
6. Remove the ghosted device by typing the following syntax:
devcon -r remove "@PCI\VEN_10B7&DEV_9200&SUBSYS_00D81028&REV_78
\4&19FD8D60&0&58F0"
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Keywords: kberrmsg kbhardware kbprb KB269155
© 2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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http://support.microsoft.com/kb/269155 6/10/2007