Hey, I've got 2 network cards in my machine, an onboard nForce controller and a Realtek card. I've also got VMWare 6.5 installed, so there's another 2 virtual adapters too. The problem is, after boot, Windows seems to take a few minutes to actually try and identify a network. Both physical adapters can detect if a cable is plugged in, but just say "enabled" for their status (or no network cable if they're unplugged). After a few minutes, they finally try and identify the network and connect to the network. Before they attempt to do this, neither adapter will show as having sent or received any data, and neither will show any details in ipconfig /all. Afterwards, they will both show in ipconfig /all, even if they're disconnected. This issue also occurs over two different routers and cables, so I don't think that's at fault. It isn't a major issue, just a bit annoying, any help would be appreciated :)

Does the currently used NIC indicate any activity during this period? Do any lights turn on or blink?

This is normal behavior. You may have changed related setting so that the system would configure networks after logon. Since you have multiple network adapters, it may take more time to finish the configuration. If you would like to change the setting to let the system logs on after NICs are configured, you may follow the steps below. 1. Enter "gpedit.msc" in Start Search bar.2. Navigate to the branch "Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon". Click on "Logon"3. In the right pane, find the entry Always wait for the network at computer startup and log on. Double-click on it. 4. Enable this policy. After following the steps above, although after logon you could use the networks at once, it will take more time to boot.Arthur Xie - MSFT

It's still taking a while after boot to get the networks working. The lights on the NICs are on (well, LINK is anyway). I'm not sure what could have caused it, it just started spontaneously doing it once...

Lets disable all startup items and third party services when booting. This method will help us determine if this issue is caused by a loading program or service. Please perform the following steps: 1. Click the Start Button type "msconfig" (without quotation marks) in the Start Search box, and then press Enter. Note: If prompted, please click Continue on the User Account Control (UAC) window.2. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click "Disable All" (if it is not gray). 3. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". Then, restart the computer. When the "System Configuration Utility" window appears, please check the "Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts" box and click OK. Please test this issue in the Clean Boot environment, if the issue disappears in the Clean Boot environment, we can use a 50/50 approach to quickly narrow down which entry is causing the issue. If the issue persists in Clean Boot Mode, please temporary remove the anti-virus and anti-spyware. If the above suggestions do not help, I suspect that this is driver issue. Currently most of the latest drivers are for Windows Vista. We may need to wait for Windows 7 compatible drivers in future.Arthur Xie - MSFT

Hi Arthur Sorry for taking so long to reply to this. I've tried all of the above, tried forcing an IP address to bypass DHCP, tried disabling IPv6, file+printer sharing and all virtualisation bridge protocols etc, again with no effect. I'm going to try rolling back my ethernet driver and seeing if that helps at all. Thanks for your help so far :)

Hi Arthur, Yeah, it seems to have been a problems with the drivers. Compltely uninstalling/reinstalling the nForce drivers seems to have fixed the problem. They were already packaged as Windows 7 drivers too. Thanks for your help :-).