Hi there, this is my problem:

I have a netgear wireless router 834gt which i have used for the past 8 months with no problems. I have a xp pc that connects wirelessly using a usb adapter, and a xbox 360 with wireless adapter that both work fine. I also have a windows 2000 pc that is wired in that also works fine.

Up until now, the vista machine that i use as my main pc has worked perfectly, able to connect at all times. This is WIRED directly into the back of the router. Today, vista comes up with the message "limited connectivity" on a unknown network. This means I am unable to connect to the internet or content on other pcs via wireless LAN.

Things i have tried so far:

• tried different ethernet cable
• tried different port on the back of the router (in case one had burned out)
• reset the ipv4 and ipv6 settings to default
• used vista's AMAZING self diagnosis tool to no avail
• reset the router
• updated the routers firmware (despite the fact it has previously worked)
• uninstalled the network port drivers and installed them again, but cannot update driver due to no internet
• attempted to create a new network in vista but it cannot find any attached devices
• disabled firewall
• used cmd prompt to reset the various networking things
• attempted to system restore but for some reason their are no points present despite the fact it is turned on
• booted in safe mode with networking, still same problem
  

all the other machines, be it either wired or wireless are able to connect, so im pretty sure this is a vista issue.
the only thing i have done to the pc since it has been working is defrag it with Perfectdisk2008, which also defrags the system/boot files when you next reboot the pc. the only thing i can think of is that this defrag of system files has somehow affected the networking (i know it doesnt make sense!)
please help!

It's a little confusing if you're using wireless USB NIC or wired onboard NIC. Follow the steps below:

First go into your BIOS and see if the device is active (only for onboard NIC wired or wireless) Not for USB external devices.

PCMICA Wireless NiC
To be really show disable on board wireless NIC and install a wireless PCMICA card. If you have one of those laying around not in use? Onboard wireless NIC do fail at anytime. Since you already done what most service repair techs would do. Then the next step would be the wireless nic is not working correctly or has stop.

Wired NIC
If this is onboard NIC disable it and use a PCI or PCI-E wired NIC to see if that fixes the problem you're having..

Note: Like with most onboard network devices they do fail or may last for years without any issues.

yes the vista is wired.

i do have a D-Link DFE-530TX network card in the windows 2000 pc but this is a really old card which i do not think has vista drivers. however the driver notes do say that in xp you do not need to install the drivers as it is already there in the OS. perhaps vista has the same?

Well give it a try and see if it does pick it up. Vista problem is that is doesn't do what XP does with hardware drivers. That's why Microsoft is testing Windows 7 to replace Vista. Next year in 2009 Windows 7 sometime release or 2010.

DOUBLE SUCCESS!!!!

not only did the old network card work under vista (good for future reference) but putting in the old card must have reset the orignal network port (probably due to it being disabled?) fixing the orginal problem, so iv put the card back in the 2000 machine and they are all working!

thanks for the quick replies :approve: