Vista - Wireless Network not connected - but it is?!!

Hi,

I have been using Vista for some time now, and I connect to the internet via
a wireless router, which, up until today, has worked fine.

However, my Media Sharing has stopped working (I stream music to an xbox via
Windows Media Player) and when I go to look at the Media Sharing settings, it
tells me that "sharing is disabled as the computer is not connected to a
network".

I then go to the Network and Sharing Centre, which also tells me that I am
Not Connected to a network.

If I look in the taskbar, I do have the little netowkr icon, with a globe on
it, indicating that I am connected to the network - however, if I hover the
mouse over it, it tells me that I am not connected.

However - I clearly am connected, as I can browse the internet just fine! I
have done an ipconfig, and I have a valid IP address, and I can access my
router wirelessly, and see that all is well!

So - for some reason, Vista does seems to connect, but then doesn't seem to
realise that it has connected, and tells itself that it isn't connected,
which is ultimately preventing me from running Media Sharing. Any ideas as
to what could be wrong?

Hi
To rule out Player or Network try another player.
Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Adam" <Adam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4398882B-F44D-4A78-9DE9-7A66433EABFD@xxxxxx

Done - it isn't media player. Network and Sharing Centre says I'm not
connected to any network - but I know I am. But Network and Sharing Centre is
telling all my applications that I'm not.

"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:

Does anyone else have any ideas? I'm totally stuck - short of reinstalling
Vista and starting again, I can't think of anything :-(

"Adam" wrote:

I'm having the exact same problem on my desktop PC.

I've included screenshots to demonstrate the problem. The name of my network is Shorty, which is the same as the name of my desktop PC, which is having this issue. If you look at CantFindNetworks.jpg (attached), you'll see that Windows says it can't find any networks to connect to. However, my computer is ALREADY connected to the network and the internet, and I am having no issues in any other software (web browsers, chat clients, etc all work just fine, despite the message that I am Not Connected to Any Networks).

In addition to my desktop PC, I also have a laptop. My laptop has no problems, and it is connected to the same network (though wirelessly ILO by ethernet). I did a network map from each system at the same time, and as you can see, the Desktop network map shows a problem between my router and the internet, but my laptop does not show any problem. The laptop represents what actually seems to be happening. So why is this getting so screwed up?

It wouldn't be a problem, except that certain Windows programs (most notably media sharing) will not work because they believe the 'Not Attached to Networks' thing. Web browsers, chat clients, windows update, etc don't appear to pay any attention to this problem. Please help me out with any ideas.

Hi
Some Router are Not compatible with Vista. May be yours is one of them.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932134
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).

"EngineerShorty" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:e93cd85b8a6fa1ab852a208e1411e426@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

Have you installed any new drivers, software, hardware, if so roll them back/uninstall.
Ping one of the other ip addresses on your network, see if it is reachable, boot into safe mode with networking, see if you can still connect etc, etc.

Maybe your network is changed to public (hidden). might want to make it private or at work again to see if it detects other computers.

Try resetting the router, (not to factory defaults, so just pull out the power plug for a few minutes and put it back in)

sounds like software, see if you can install another program that organises your network settings.


I need to know more, are you connecting your pc to the router wirelessly or by ethernet cable, are you using a laptop or desktop?