Hi

That ipconfig file was from the desktop that can't connect with the laptop
thanks again.

the lap top looks the same but if try to ping the ip address or comp name it cannot find it.

even if i ping it's own ip address still does not find it.

So on the laptop, you type PING 192.168.0.3 (or whatever) and it says it can't find it? Are you sure it says "can't find" rather than "times out"??

What happens when you ping 192.168.0.1 from the laptop?

It sounds like a firewall issue on the laptop. Does it have something like Norton or just the Windows firewall? Try disabling it.

Hi JJW009

If I ping that it finds it as it is my router.
But if I try to ping 'clives-desktop' or 'clive-laptop' either way round, which are the two computers that won't connect then it says it can't find them.

But never mind problem must have been vista Ultimate.
Have now install windows 7RC and no further problems can connect to all computers now without having to jump through hoops.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.
Think I'm going to stay with windows 7 as it has also resolved my memory problems also.
May even install it in all the other comps. Pity it only a one year trial.
Maybe if I had re-installed Vista Ultimate it too would have resolved the network problem but not the memory one.

many thanks again.

Don't know if can mark this as resolved as cannot find any buttons for this.

LOL, I guess we'll never know now.

There's no "resolved" button on here. Perhaps that's one for the suggestion box.

Hi all
Just an update on network problem.

After finding even win7 suffered same problem after a few hours I re-installed Vista Ultimate in both comps. But again after a 15-30 minutes something turned network location to 'public' and would not let me change back.

But eventually found problem was not either windows versions, it was the router itself.
After completely resetting the router with the reset pinhole and re-enter the router settings from backup the machines then signed on and were able to see each other again. I had the problem return after 20 minutes, but just resetting router cleared problem.
Touched router and it was a little warmer than usual. Set a fan to cool it down and not had problem re-occur for 3 days now.

Maybe netgear router is beginning to fail, may need to invest in a new one. It is over 6 years old and on 24/7.

Again thanks all for all the help you have given.

That's really quite curious, Clive. I guess maybe the switch part is failing, but I've never seen symptoms quite like that before!

Clive, try updating the firmware

Hi Saspro
Already upgraded firmware to latest available, but did not resolve problem. only thing that has worked is resetting router to factory settings and restoring backup settings. Also using a fan to keep it cooler.

I think something is failing on the lan ports side and heat is now affecting it more.
Suspect may have to invest in a new router which I am not too unhappy about as this one has lasted 7 years+ without problems.