Madness is afoot! Vista + Networking

bombidol

I'm running Vista business and had no trouble for ages but a while back for some reason the network not found icon appeared in my tray. The one with two monitors and an X. now the internet etc is working fine but when I right click and go to "Network and Sharing" center the window appears but freezes and I cant change anything. I can see that "network discovery" is off but I cant change it.
I'm going into a 3com office connect router and then into my DSL modem. But when I run the 3Com discover program (To connect to the router and edit settings etc) It sees my network card (Rhine) but wont let me progress its says (Selected network interface does not have a valid IP address or no link is present)
I need to get onto the router to edit settings so I can get my xbox 360 to work online and I need to change security settings on the router.
Anyone any ideas?

axer

Try this:
Right click "Computer"
Click "Manage"
Under the "System Tools" section, Double click "Local Users and Groups"
Click "Groups"
Right click "Administrators"
Click "Add to group..."
Click "Add"
Click "Advanced"
Click "Find Now"
Double click "Local Service"
Click "Ok"
"NT Authority\Local Service" should show up in the list now
Click "Ok"
Close Computer Management and reboot.

EDIT: If that doesn't work then try this:

Windows Vista Slow Network Issues

Published on: 16 August 2007 By: Ahsan Khan

Problem:
Slow browsing of machines on the network.
Slow Remote Desktop Connection.
How to turn off auto-tuning?
Slow when accessing network resources.
Fetching files from network folders is slow.

Cause:
Microsoft Windows Vista has auto-tuning enabled for TCP/IP which continually adjusts itself. It increases file transfer speed on the network but in some cases it may actually slow down everything which is accessing network. Auto-tuning also slows down network browsing of other machines on the network.

What is Auto-Tuning?
Microsoft TCP/IP stack supports Receive Window Auto-Tuning. Receive Window Auto-Tuning continually determines the optimal receive window size by measuring the bandwidth-delay product and the application retrieve rate. It adjusts the maximum receive window size based on changing network conditions. By default in Windows Vista Receive Window Auto-Tuning enables TCP window scaling which allows up to 16MB window size.
The TCP/IP stack monitors the connection and measures the current bandwidth delay for the connection and the application receive rate and adjusts the receive window size to optimum throughput.

Solution:
To disable auto-tuning:
Run command prompt as an Administrator.
Type: "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled" (without quotes) and press enter.

You may also need to run this command:
netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled

To enable auto-tuning:
Type: "netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal" (without quotes) and press enter.

To view the current TCP settings:
Type: "netsh interface tcp show global" (without quotes) and press enter.

Let me know if one works for my own reference.

bombidol

The first one kind of worked! The red X is gone from the network icon on the tray. but the 3com discovery program still cant find my router. Hmmm.
I've attached a screenshot just to give you an idea.

Thanks!