Some PCs come with a recovery partition on the HDD that contains the factory disk image. That's probably the case here.

OH... I didn't know that there was an image of the OS on that.

Neither Dell nor HP have shipped an OS disc with a PC in several years now - saving them 2p per disc.

One of those things like the olives in salads in meals in first class on planes, etc.

You get a recovery partition and the option to create your own OS disc.

(Tip for everyone who has a computer that didn't come with an OS CD. Make that disc now and keep it safe - when you need it, it will be too late).

I'm on SP1. My roomate manages the network, but he's clueless. My router is a D-link air plus G DWL something. I don't know the numbers because I'm at work.

I'll get 'em later.

Clearly it's going to be a bit of a challenge, what with you having no internets on that computer, but we may have it there.

Believe it or not, dial up was the norm when SP1 was the state of the art.

Microsoft will always try to get you to use the automatic update but you can get the install file for use offline.

On one of the working 'puters on your network go here and download the .exe file. Burn it onto a CD, pop it on a memory stick or in some other way make it portable, move it to your computer and install it there.

If the Gods of TCP/IP are smiling on us today then once the update is complete your networking, both wired and unwired, should pretty much just start working.

If they don't, we may need to perform a blood sacrifice. Would you be able to get your hands on a goat?

Thanks, I tried finding this version of the file last night, but Microsoft designed a s**tty and confusing website for non-technical people. Hopefully it will work now.

If not, will a goat substitute work? Like Bluenutria? If that didn't work, I would still have a computer with internet.

It is a tad galling that the fix to a lot of internet ills is to download something - and that they make it especially hard to do if you have to use another computer is like lemon juice in a fresh paper cut.

True story - back when I worked at a cable company I had to point out to the powers that be what they had not yet noticed (yet to me what was blindingly obvious); if a customer called because they had lost their email password, understandably for security purposes we couldn't tell them what it was over the phone, but to my mind emailing it to the address the caller can't access is both dumb and insulting.

Brilliant plan - Win/Win. We'll go with that then.

Huge issue. I cant get into my voicemail on my work phone. I use a At&t ISDN 8510T and have no clue what my voicemail number is... any help would be greatly appreciated.

Use your cell phone to call your number and then press either # or * to get into the menu so you can then enter your PIN.

That's pretty much the way to do it for all VM systems.

Sorry it is my PIN that I lost.... grrrr

Tell whoever administers the phone system - they should be able to reset it for you without to much hassle.

Also a true story...

Not long ago, the base made some upgrades to wiring for the phone lines. They made a valiant effort to maintain connectivity during the change over. Everyone was notified of the day and hour when each building was being migrated over, via email. The last paragraph of the email:

"We appreciate your cooperation and are working hard to prevent any down time. If your location is down for more than 20 minutes, please call Sgt Smith at ###-####."

I giggled.

That's genius.

I giggled too.

I think it's about time to rename this thread.

Suggestion:

"Pocksucket! Maveeeeen! Halp! Halp!"

Oh boy my internet pretty much didn't start working. It still has a problem acquiring a network address. The address I end up getting is apparently a default address that is given out when the router is stingy with its addresses.

169.whole bunch of numbers?

Before I get involved in what could be a lengthy set of instructions, how would you feel about a) doing another windows reinstall and b) what about getting hold of a Linux boot disc and booting the computer from that to see if you've got connectivity outside of Windows?

This second option would be especially useful as it would let us see whether the problem really is Windows or if there's some sort of hardware trouble stirring up there.

yes, 169. etc.

I will get a hold of a linux boot disk. If I were to guess, the internet would work in Linux. I'll try it though. As far as re-installing, I'm feeling more and more comfortable with that idea. Thanks for the help so far.

I suspect you're right, that it is down to Windows, but it would be useful to know for certain.

Ubuntu's as good as any, but if you want to wild there's any number of them here.

Tell me how it goes with that and then we'll go from there.

Fixed it. I uninstalled Flash, ReBoot-ed, and reinstalled. Yay me.

So, I couldn't figure out how to connect to wireless in Ubuntu, but I brought my computer into the place that I originally bought it and the guy there said that he was able to get into the internet there. He mentioned the MAC address, but I'm not sure what that even means. I honestly don't know how anyone even gets wireless without becoming an expert in the technology.