Instlling an ethernet card on Dimension 4100. Any tips?

[alcibiades_mystery]

Yes, I know about Dell, but I bought the unit in 2000, so I didn't know about the evil of Michael Dell yet. My laptop is not a Dell. In any case, I will be installing an ethernet card on that machine, and also on my Linux machine (an old Pentium II generic that I've been running Red Hat on, but I want to start experimenting with Debian). They'll all be connected through Verizon DSL, but I need the ethernet cards.

I figure I can get good ethernet cards pretty cheaply (I need two), but I've never done a PCI slot installation before. Anyone have any advice as I go forward on this project?

(Just for some background: I decided to get "teched up" about two years ago, so I take on a tech project or two every month. So far, these have been successful. I recompiled the kernel on the Red Hat machine in order to connect with a winmodem. That was a monumental pain in the ass, due primarily to the piss poor documentation skills of Linux folks, who appear to assume that everyone is an expert, and those who are not don't deserve to learn...I know, that's a generalization, and I apologize). I've messed around on the Red Hat for about 6 months now, but now I want to play with another distro. So, point being, I've always been a humanities type cat, and computers used to scare me. They don't so much anymore, but I do like to catch some smart advice from the great techies among us before I embark on some new harebrained scheme).

Any help would be appreciated! Cheers.:toast:

[hobbit709]

1. Just pop out the

the slot covers on the back of the case and put the card in the socket. Make sure power is unplugged. Once you get the card seated, power up and it should find the hardware. Use the install Cd, shouldn't be any problems.

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Thanks

No snark involved, but I understood all that already.

I was more fishing for anything I should keep in mind other than the basics. But I guess you're saying it really is as easy as all that. That's good!

Thanks for replying. I'm really not trying to be snarky.