So which adapter are you using now as I'm not clear? Assuming that there's nothing wrong with built-in Ethernet port it's the one you should be using (although you're free to use any other one, of course).
It's most likely that explanations in post #2 are correct.
Sorry for the confusion re: adapters.
The onboard ethernet port from the motherboard is not being used, although it would of course be my preference. As I mentioned in post #7, I can download and install that adapter and the intel driver; the adapter shows in Windows 10 apps and features and the driver in device manager (but with an error flag), but the actual ethernet connection never appears in Windows 10 network connections/ethernet.
I appreciate post #9 above and will try those steps if the original bsod error re-occurs.
I am instead using the only ethernet adapter I have that works correctly ie... the Usb 3.0 adapter with the Asix driver. It does show up in Network Connections/ethernet and functions as normal, although it was after first installing it that the original BSOD error began.
I built this pc primarily for video gaming purposes, which is one reason I preferred an ethernet over a wireless adapter, as wireless connections can sometimes be unreliable.
Since my original post, I simply have rebooted Windows, navigated to Device Manager, and uninstalled the Intel driver for the motherboard network adapter, and continued using the pc. Each time I reboot, Windows auto-detects the device again, and I have to uninstall the driver again which is a clumsy workaround.
However, since doing that this morning I have worked on spreadsheets for nearly 2 hours, played an online video game for at least that long, and browsed online the entire time, and the original error has not re-occurred. This is the longest uptime for the pc since first encountering the error three days ago.
I will reboot once again and continue, but unless the error comes up again afterward, I think this thread can be considered solved. Thanks again to all who replied!
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