i have had this problem before and a simple steam reinstall is all it took. Not this time seems like steam thinks that my login is not correct for some screwy reason. when i go to log in it tells me that my login info is wrong, but it has been the same for 4 yrs now. i tried to login on my buddies box and it worked just fine, got into the steam server and was able to play counter strike. i think that maybe it was the fact that i ran windows update for vista home premium and it installed the updates for my wireless adapter and pooched the info for steam somehow cause i am not using wireless i am usin cable wired 5mb connection. i had this issue before, when i would use the wireless at lan games then went back to wired it would not let me log back into the steam network unless i was using the wirelss card. then i reinstalled steam and it worked wired. huh i have no clue. so far i have reinstalled 4 times to no avail and i have taken the wireless adapter out and reinstalled to no avail thinking that vista would pooch the box again with another bad update then turn the wireless on with the cat5 and windows craps its pants. so please let me know what you guys think

system info

Pentium 4 extreme edition 3.2ghz
4 gigs high performace corsair ram lat 3
680 gigs hard drive space no raid
windows vista premium retail version ( dont ask ) programmer
Radeon x850 xt platinum edition agp 256 gddr3 gpu
antec neo 550 power connect smart power psu

EDIT

Let me rephrase, has the game ever worked with since you have gotten vista?

yes my and i have vista. yes the game has been working just fine in vista for a couple of weeks now. i have gotten it working since the thread was last posted and it seems my account had been used and hijacked now i am banned from the vac secured server cause the hijackers was cheating and it was connected to my account. so all and all i have to by a new account and start from scratch.. thanks for the help though techspot