LAN 'Local area connection' doesnt exist can you help

Hi there i'm currently experiencing an akward problem firstly it's never happened to me or anyone i know.PLEASE HELP.I recently got hold of a MSI P7ND pltinum 750i nforce motherboard.I've been using windows vista for a while and no problems till recently.I switched on the pc after installing a memory card reader and after installing it i encounyered the strangest thing.If i go into the device manager my local area connection doesnt show up in device manager.If i go to the network connections area it still only shows broadband or wireless connections.This is confusing as i know my way around a pc but i cant figure this out it's a built into the motherboard so it should show up the Nforce doesn't seem to work.Can anyone help me sort this problem out.Itwould really be appreciated.

INTEL Q6600 core 2 quad
MSI P7N platinum SLI MOBO with Nforce 750i chipset
8Gb RAM 800Mhz
2*9600gt 512Mb in SLI
2*500 Gb western digital Hdard drives
Samsung super write master dvd

no its correct, your "local area connection" should only be seen in control panel, networking and sharing center.
if your looking for the network adaptor have you turned it on in bios, installed correct drivers etc ?
does it show up when the new cardreader is unplugged (hardware conflict) did you install any software for the reader (software conflict)?