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        Network Adapter has no driver

Section(s): Networking
Published on Oct 08, 2009.
Last Modified on Jun 21, 2009.
Last Modified by Robert Larson.
Rated 5 out of 5 based on 1 votes.

This tip explains how to deal with a virtual machine with no driver for the network adapter.

If you build a virtual machine using Hyper-V and the standard Network Adapter, you are installing a synthetic network adpater. That adapter does not typically have drivers included with the operating system (Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 are exceptions). In order to get a driver for the network adapter, you must install Integration Services.

To install Integration Services, click the Actions menu option from the Hyper-V Manager MMC. In the dropdown menu, select Install Integration Services option

Follow the prompts on the screen to select any custom options

Once you are finished installing the Integration Services, you will need to reboot the virtual machine.

NOTE: you can only install Integration Services for supported operating systems.

About Robert Larson

Robert Larson is the co-author of the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit, and the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Resource kit, both published by Microsoft Press. Robert has over 20 years experience in the engineering and IT field. Currently an architect with Microsoft Consulting Services, Robert focuses on helping customers design and deploy optimized data center and server infrastructures using physical and virtual approaches. Robert has been working with various virtualization technologies for over 4 years and is a regular speaker at Microsoft TechEd conferences in the US and Europe on the Microsoft virtualization stack. Robert has also written whitepapers and delivered webcasts on virtualization technologies. You can visit Robert's blog