Vista - Getting closer with mapping drive - can do it by IP, not by name

Hello again. I am getting closer to solving a problem on my computer. Hopefully this is the last post I will have to make and will be able to fix this thing from here.

I have a Vista laptop and recently lost mapping abilities with my XP desktop. This problem is not Vista/XP related. I know this because I have another Vista laptop that is working beautifully with the XP and the NAS drive I have (which is not dependant at all on the XP).

So, I figured out that I can ping and map the network drive on the XP by IP but not by using the computer name. For example, I can map with \\192.168.1.102\Media (f) but not by \\SnakeRoom\Media (f). I can do the latter with no problems with the other Vista machine, which again tells me it is a problem with this computer.

So, why can I map with the IP and not the Computer Name? I think if I can figure this out, it will solve my issue of not being able to map the NAS as well! I really don't want to pay the $130 for Dell's magical fix they say they can give!

Please, any help would be greatly appreciated - even if it means pointing me to a trustworthy on-line fix-it place.

Thanks much.

Does ping-by-name fail as well?

Yes, pinging by name fails. I can ping by IP, but not by name.

What's the exact error message when ping-by-name fails?

Are you quite sure you're pinging the right name? It should be the one returned by the HOSTNAME command on the target.

Does ping-by-name resolve the IP address correctly even though the ping itself is unsuccessful?