Vista - explorer and modem issues

I was having problems with norton 360 so I uninstalled it. I was also having problems with connecting to the internet....I couldn't connect. It would pull up the internet window but would say it couldn't connect. When I would check the network connection there would be a red X saying it could see the modem but couldn't get through. Everything else in the house can connect but my laptop. After removing norton Windows Explorer goes to not responding when I try to click on the networking icon. I have been messing with this laptop since midnight last night and am going crazy. It is a HP with Windows Vista home. I want the internet to work and for it to quit freaking out!

I can get in when in safe mode......the internet works. What is going on here? How can I fix my laptop through safe mode to get this working correctly? I think there might have been a virus, thanks to the kids, so there is not a restore point anymore to use.

Anything that works in safe mode but not normal mode can generally be "troubleshot" by a process of selectively deactivating the items which start only in normal mode until a culprit is found. That can be done using the built-in MSCONFIG ("diagnostic" or "selective startup" modes), or by downloading the Sysinternals Autoruns utility (microsoft.com/sysinternals) which is even more powerful.