XP/Vista Wireless LAN, Computers no longer see each other

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Hello all. I've got a Vista laptop and an XP desktop connected to a wireless ADSL router (Comtrend). Previously, I was able to view both computers over the network, share files and play LAN games. As of this afternoon, it appears the LAN network has crapped the bed.

Both computers can still connect to the internet via the wireless router, however, they no longer see each other on the network and I'm unable to play Serious Sam 2 over the LAN anymore (bummer!).

Some things to note:
- Desktop is XP Pro running service patch 3
- Laptop is Vista Home running service patch 1
- Can ping the router from either machine
- SOMETIMES able to ping laptop from desktop and vice verse...sometimes NOT (weird?!)
- Vista machine is running Private Network (as is suggested by other resources)

Anyway, I've attempted to research solutions on the web for the past few hours, but haven't had any luck. Hope y'all can guide me through this network weirdness. Thanks in advance for any help or direction.

Cheers!

[aeinstein]

Have you double checked to see that the home network is still setup on each machine? That they're part of the same workgroup and all?

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Have you double checked to see that the home network is still setup on each machine? That they're part of the same workgroup and all?

Hi aeinstein. I confirmed that both machines are in the same workgroup (WORKGROUP). Can you specify what to look for to ensure "the home network is still setup on each machine"? The Vista computer has Network Discovery and File Sharing options turned on in Network & Sharing Center. Not sure how to confirm on the XP computer. Are there services that I can check are running (or not running)? Both computers can see themselves when viewing network, but cannot see each other anymore.

Additional information that leads me to suspect the issue is with the XP machine: a friend brought his computer over and I was able to play a LAN game using my Vista laptop, but my XP desktop could not find the LAN game we had setup. Also tried to setup the LAN game using my XP desktop and neither my Vista machine or my friend's XP machine were able to find the game.

Thanks!

[aeinstein]

It sounds like the home network is setup, since both machines are in the same named workgroup. Let's check to see if there's anything blatantly awry with your configuration on the XP machine. Please pull up a console window (click Start, then Run, input "cmd" & hit enter), type in "ipconfig/all" and hit enter. Then left click on the little "C:\" icon in the upper left hand corner of the window, click Edit and then Select All. With everything selected do a ctrl-c to copy everything. With that in the clipboard go ahead and open up some text file, such as Notepad, and click into the body of the document and do a ctrl-v to paste the contents of the clipboard into this document. This is just a holder in case there's a mess up in posting the info here. When you post that same info here please remember to use the code tags. ttyl :)

PS: It wouldn't hurt to do the same thing with the Vista machine, but I've only had a Vista machine for a few weeks a couple of years ago, so I'm not familiar with how things need to be setup on that. The basics should be the same though.

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Thanks aeinstein. I'll post both the XP and Vista ipconfig info asap. Though I'm not sure what code tags I should use. Please advise.

[zoellerman]

Have you tried START RUN and then typing \\network name to see if you can connect to the other machine. To find the network name of your machines click START RUN type cmd to get the command prompt and type net view

[zeroth]

I've got a Vista laptop and an XP desktop connected to a wireless ADSL router (Comtrend). Previously, I was able to view both computers over the network, share files and play LAN games. Both computers can still connect to the internet via the wireless router, however, they no longer see each other on the network

Guys, I've had an XP computer lose connection before and drive me crazy. Here's something to try. Goto Start, Run, and enter regedit. Being VERY careful about changing anything, go down thru the hierarchy HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Lsa

There's an entry here named restrictanonymous - each time I've had a problem with an XP machine losing connection with the network, I've found this key set as value 1. It should be set at 0 (zero). When I've set it back, it instantly restores communication.

Worth trying. Be aware that this solution will grant access to any shared files on the network. If yours is a home network where you don't care who can see shared files, good enough. Interestingly, I have come to believe this key is set to 1 by software like Norton's when it wants to restrict access...therefore, any new computers that I purchase, I set up without Norton's and immediately get the Norton's removal tool and get rid of it forever...I hope.

zeroth

[LabASSistant]

that works!

[ici]

thanks very much for that elegant solution, I have been having this problem for ages and you just solved it!!

[Catalana]

Goto Start, Run, and enter regedit. Being VERY careful about changing anything

that's an important warning!!

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Guys, I've had an XP computer lose connection before and drive me crazy. Here's something to try. Goto Start, Run, and enter regedit. Being VERY careful about changing anything, go down thru the hierarchy HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Lsa

There's an entry here named restrictanonymous - each time I've had a problem with an XP machine losing connection with the network, I've found this key set as value 1. It should be set at 0 (zero). When I've set it back, it instantly restores communication.

zeroth

Ok, I set the restrictanonymous value (which was set to 1) on my XP machine to 0 but still no luck.

Then I started poking around the Network and Sharing Center on my Vista laptop and now I feel the problem could lay there: it appears that the computer (Vista) is trying to connect to another network, possibly a neighbor's wireless router. In the pictures at the top of Network and Sharing Center, the network link between my computer and "Internet" is showing as WLAN_AD (my wireless network) then switches to "Identifying...", then "Multiple Networks". This keeps changing over and over, appearing to try to resolve the network connection. Although, I'm clearly already connected to my WLAN_AD wireless network and have access to the internet!

Additionally, now when I view my network on the Vista laptop I can actually see my XP machine but I can't access it: Error code 0x80070035 "The network path was not found". And on top of that, my Vista laptop isn't seeing itself anymore. It seems like every day this goofy situation with my network changes, or gets worse...you decide!!!

Anyway, is there anyway to make Vista stop trying to identify and/or connect to the other unknown network? Or am I barking up the wrong tree? What I would really like to do is delete all my existing network settings and start over fresh...any suggestions?

Thanks to all for you replies...hopefully we can figure this mess out together.

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Ok, well it appears I'm out of luck here, I guess. Last-ditch effort...any ideas on how I can reset all my network settings to default so I can start over from scratch?

Thanks.

[aeinstein]

Hi Jonnie_Cellmate,

Sorry I've been away for a bit, but to answer your earlier question you would place the return from the ipconfig/all command between code tags: [ then the word CODE then ] (ipconfig/all contents) [ then / then Code then ]

It will look like something like this when you do a Preview Post:

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : (deleted)
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : .

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : .
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Networ
k Connection
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-5C-12-80
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.0.79
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.255.254
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 13, 2008 3:59:36 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 13, 2008 4:09:36 PM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-D4-35-A6-6F

Please take care to delete your directory path (C:\Documents and Settings\...etc), and I also delete the hostname.

I'll post back later after I get a chance to go over what you just posted, but I'll likely ask to see that info anyway.

TTYL & GL

[aeinstein]

With your connection to the internet disconnected, but your router still up and running, temporarily disable an software firewalls, virus scanning and any other transmission security software you're running on both machines, and then see if the can communicate as a stand alone home LAN. Remember to reactivate your software before connecting back to your ISP! And yes, please go ahead and post the ipconfig/all info too.

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

With your connection to the internet disconnected, but your router still up and running, temporarily disable an software firewalls, virus scanning and any other transmission security software you're running on both machines, and then see if the can communicate as a stand alone home LAN. Remember to reactivate your software before connecting back to your ISP! And yes, please go ahead and post the ipconfig/all info too.

Hi aeinstein. I followed your instructions quoted above and the Vista laptop and XP desktop still cannot see each other on the network. I'm able to ping both computers from one another, however, not always. For example, when I ping the XP machine from the Vista laptop the ping fails at first. It will eventually work if I ping the Vista laptop from the XP machine first, which works fine. I'm not sure if this is relevant to the situation, but it's almost as if the Vista laptop doesn't see the XP machine until the XP machine sees it first. Anyway, I'm posting ipconfig/all info for both machines below. Thanks so much for your assistance!

VISTA LAPTOP

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : (deleted)
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-F3-84-86
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8c01:29e1:409c:15c2%9(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.136(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                       80.58.61.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-25-48-CC-89
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{F452FB05-0CC2-4AA4-95BD-CA6B7F087
D0D}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{F473CF67-350E-4469-B621-37B94383D
C69}
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

XP DESKTOP

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : (deleted)
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-01-29-D6-01-50

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11g USB Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-C9-4E-F4-2A
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                            80.58.61.254
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 26, 2008 5:16:08 PM
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 27, 2008 5:16:08 PM

[jbennet]

Under network and sharing centre make sure the network type is set to home and that discovery is enabled

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Under network and sharing centre make sure the network type is set to home and that discovery is enabled

Network discovery is enabled and the network type is set to private (as opposed to public). I don't see anything that refers to a network type of "home".

[jbennet]

Private is fine, if you choose home/work instead of public internet when it pops up, it chooses private. There is no functional difference between home and work locations on the home editions.

[RLHennig]

DHCP is disabled on your notebook. That may be an issue. Try turning it on (should be an option on the settings for your wireless NIC).

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

DHCP is disabled on your notebook. That may be an issue. Try turning it on (should be an option on the settings for your wireless NIC).

Well, I enabled dhcp and still no luck. I'm so at my wits end here! I understand that a secure OS is important, but why does Microsoft have to make it so darn difficult for XP and Vista to play nice together?!!!

[aeinstein]

Ok, well it appears I'm out of luck here, I guess. Last-ditch effort...any ideas on how I can reset all my network settings to default so I can start over from scratch?

Thanks.

Hi Jonnie, Sorry I haven't been replying - this is the first automated notification I've gotten on this thread since my last post! Before you reset everything try disabling both of the tunneling adapters on the Vista laptop. If you haven't done so as yet, and don't mind spending a few extra bucks, get an ethernet cross-over cable and connect the two computers directly together. This will rule out any issues that might possibly be arising from using the router and is as basic a connection as we can get to rule out external issues. Of course, whenever you change your physical connections make sure you do a complete shut down, wait a full ten count at least and then restart each computer.

[jbennet]

Sorry I haven't been replying - this is the first automated notification I've gotten on this thread since my last post!

Login, click control panel then go to subscribed threads.

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Hi Jonnie, Sorry I haven't been replying - this is the first automated notification I've gotten on this thread since my last post! Before you reset everything try disabling both of the tunneling adapters on the Vista laptop. If you haven't done so as yet, and don't mind spending a few extra bucks, get an ethernet cross-over cable and connect the two computers directly together. This will rule out any issues that might possibly be arising from using the router and is as basic a connection as we can get to rule out external issues. Of course, whenever you change your physical connections make sure you do a complete shut down, wait a full ten count at least and then restart each computer.

Hi aeinstein. I've disabled the tunneling and IPv6 on the Vista laptop by adding the DisabledComponents value to the registry (hex FF) and clearing the checkbox next to IPv6 in the network properties window. I've included latest ipconfig/all info for the Vista laptop below. Still no luck.

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : (deleted)
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8185 Extensible 802.11b/g Wireles
s Device
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-F3-84-86
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.35(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:09:20 AM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:09:20 AM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                       80.58.61.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-25-48-CC-89
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

The Vista laptop SOMETIMES sees the XP machine in the Network window, but can never access it as previously discussed (error code 0x80070035, The network path was not found). And Vista laptop is still only able to ping XP machine AFTER XP machine pings the Vista laptop first. I'll try picking up a crossover cable asap. Thanks!

[aeinstein]

Login, click control panel then go to subscribed threads.

Hence the word "automated."

[aeinstein]

Hi Jonnie, I've copied your IP info for the two machines, which I show as follows:

XP      IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.0.79
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.255.254
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4

Vista   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                            80.58.61.254

This tells me that both machines are on separate networks, among other things, which is fine, but to troubleshoot an issue that's proven so problematic the best way to do so is to break things down to as basic a scenario as is possible under the circumstances. Please let us know if you're willing to connect the two machines directly via a cross-over cable as a temporary step in resolving your problem?

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Hi Jonnie, I've copied your IP info for the two machines, which I show as follows:

XP      IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.0.79
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.128.255.254
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.41.0.4

Vista   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                            80.58.61.254

This tells me that both machines are on separate networks, among other things, which is fine, but to troubleshoot an issue that's proven so problematic the best way to do so is to break things down to as basic a scenario as is possible under the circumstances. Please let us know if you're willing to connect the two machines directly via a cross-over cable as a temporary step in resolving your problem?

aeinstein, that's not my XP ipconfig info...it looks like you copied that from a sample you provided earlier in this post. My current XP ipconfig/all info is as follows:

Windows IP Configuration

        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : (deleted)
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-01-29-D6-01-50

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11g USB Adapter
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-C9-4E-F4-2A
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                            80.58.61.254
        Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:54:54 P
M
        Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, November 19, 2008 4:54:54
 PM

[aeinstein]

I reread the entire thread to check facts as well as to pull out what I think is pertinent info, which follows:

1) The two computers were able to communicate via the network previously (so, they should be able to communicate once again).

2) It's an interesting tidbit that your LAN play of SS2 stopped at the same time - did you play it from the XP machine only?

3) Both systems are part of the same named network, being "WORKGROUP".

4) From zeroth's post you were able to identify & rectify the issue with the "restrictanonymous" setting.

5) On the Vista machine the network link in the Network and Sharing Center utility appears to be roaming even when you're actually connected to the "WLAN_AD" network.

6) You're getting error code 0x80070035 on the Vista machine - this can actually be pointing us to the problem now that I've looked up the error code on MS's support pages (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958285/en-us). Did you setup a VPN for the two machines which has now failed?

7) You've tried setting up a stand alone network (ie, through the router) with the two machines, temporarily turning off all security programs *after* the network had been isolated, without resolution.

8) It appears that you've added Nvidia Network Interface Cards (NICs) to both machines. In order not to butt our heads against the wall unnecessarily here I'd *strongly* recommend physically removing the extra NIC from each machine until this issue is removed, although I'm sure you'd rather pursue the troubleshooting steps from the MS support page concerning the 0x80070035 first. Personally I would remove the extra NIC's first, but that's your call of course. Two, or more, NIC's in the same box (whether as an actual NIC or an on-board adapter) can often be quite problematic once a connectivity issue arises, so removing one if not in use/essential to operations would be strongly recommended. Sorry, I should've picked up on that one sooner. :/

9) A partial capture of your ipconfig/all info is as follows:
Vista laptop

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-C0-A8-F3-84-86
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8c01:29e1:409c:15c2%9(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.136(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                       80.58.61.254

XP Desktop

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-C9-4E-F4-2A
   Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.34
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.58.61.250
                                       80.58.61.254

10) Good catches by jbennet and RLHenning - hopefully I would've seen the DHCP issue but I know essentially nothing about Vista - at least Vista specific - configurations/abilities, etc.

At this point, if I were experiencing the issues you're encountering, I'd follow-up on the MS support link first. If that didn't work I'd remove the secondary NIC's from both machines and then retry the MS support trouble shooting procedures. If I still couldn't connect both machines I'd bypass the router entirely and connect both machines directly to each other with a cross-over cable, and, once I had the two machines isloated from any external connection(s), I'd disable "anti-" software - anti-virus, anti-spam, "anti-intruder" (ie, firewall), etc. And if all that didn't work? I'd pick up knitting or basket weaving! :}....but talk to us first :)

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

I'll respond to each of your points individually:

1) Yes, both computers were able to see each other previously, share files and play SS2 over the network.

2) We played networked SS2 on both the XP machine and the Vista laptop.

3) Yes, both systems are part of the same named network, being "WORKGROUP".

4) Per zeroth's post, restrictanonymous value is set to 0 (zero) on both the XP machine and the Vista laptop.

5) Yes, I believe my Vista laptop is also seeing my neighbor's wireless network. However, the laptop is definitely connected to my "WLAN_AD" network, which appears to be functioning correctly as far as the Internet is concerned.

6) Regarding error code 0x80070035, I installed the Vista hotfix recommended by Microsoft, but it didn't solve the problem. There is no VPN set up.

7) Yes, turned off all firewalls and antivirus software: Avast, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender. Computers still weren't able to see each other.

8) I have not added any NICs to either machine. The XP motherboard (DFI Lanparty NF4 SLI) has onboard dual Gigabit LAN. The Vista laptop came equipped with Realtek Wireless and Nvidia network controllers. I can try disabling one or the other if you think that might help, but I cannot physically remove them from the computers.

9) Regarding ipconfig info, the IP address for my Vista machine appears to have changed to 192.168.1.35...not sure why, but that's what it is now.

10) I have enabled DHCP on both computers.

I was able to purchase a cross-over cable and have both computers connected...it works perfectly!!! Both can see each other and I'm able to share files without a problem. Still unable to get them to play nicely together over the wireless network.

Thanks for all your help.

[Jonnie_Cellmate]

Just figured I'd post an update on how things were going with my xp/vista network problems.

As of today, and for some reason totally unknown to me, both the xp desktop and vista laptop are able to see each other over the wireless network and file sharing works as well. I have made no changes to any network, security, or sharing settings so I have no idea why all of a sudden it's working.

One thing I did do a couple of weeks ago was set up a third laptop running Ubuntu (linux distro), which I might add was able to see and share files right away with both the xp and vista computers. But I'm doubtful this had anything to do with fixing the xp/vista problems.

Anyway, things appear to be working for the moment, although I'm not necessarily inclined to mark this post as "solved".

Thanks.

[zeroth]

there's a chance Ubuntu squared away the communications channels!