What I did notice was that from a command prompt, an ‘ipconfig’ command did not give an IP on the same subnet that other devices (in this case 10.10.10.x). Instead it gave an IP of 169.x.x.x. This is this is an Microsoft automatic private address assigned to computers that are not connected to the Internet.

Thinking it was a problem with the DHCP server on the modem, I tried to connect with my laptop and iPhone which worked fine. Ahhhhh, I thought ‘I bet it’s Vista or Norton’.

The troubleshooting started. I disabled Norton – no change. Googling around seemed to pretty much confirm it was Vista, and down below I have listed some things to check and try. Results were varied from what I read so if you are having issues, try these one at a time (which I listed from quick to more in depth methods in order). Note: I am assuming that the WEP/WPA key used was correct in connecting to the network , and that the issue is not getting a IP or any internet connectivity.

The first thing to try is giving a static IP to the wireless card. More than likely this will work, but having it set as auto would be more preferable, and you probably would want to know why you have to do it this way.

Wireless card drivers:

1. Right-click on “My Computer” and click Properties

2. Click on “Device Manager” from the left column

3. Expand “Network Adapters” Section

4. Right click on each network adapter and click “uninstall”

5.Click “Action” from the toolbar and Select “Scan for hardware changes”

IPV6 causing issue

1. Control Panel > Network and Sharking Center > Manage Network Connections > right click your Friendly Neighbourhood Network Connection > Properties

2. Under the Networking Tab, uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)

3. Exit the dialogs.

Invalid MAC address in Vista for the wireless network card.

Now this is a very interesting one, and ended up being the problem with mine.

Vista does not preset a MAC address for the network card.
As a result the network card identifies itself as: 00-00-00-00-00-00
this causes problems with any standard equipment.
To fix this go to:
Device Manger and view driver details for the network card.
Select MAC, you will see that the option Not Preset is ON.
Check ON the option to set a MAC address and type in a 6 hex digits e.g.:
001a2b3c4d5e

Save and restart your network. It should be working now.

DHCP bug in Vista

Taken from a MS article located here,

This issue occurs because of a difference in design between Windows Vista and Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Specifically, in Windows XP SP2, the BROADCAST flag in DHCP discovery packets is set to 0 (disabled). In Windows Vista, the BROADCAST flag in DHCP discovery packets is not disabled. Therefore, some routers and some non-Microsoft DHCP servers cannot process the DHCP discovery packets.

Care: as the fix for this possible involves a registry change, please make sure you have all you important files backed up if things go haywire.

So as you can see, there could be a few things that are causing this issue. Please share any thoughts/experiences you may have had.

And might I say justified hype. I personally have found it a good step up from XP, but without the pain of Vista.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft released the RTM version to MSDN and technet subscribers, and I have been using it without any problems at all. They’ve done a good job this time.

Windows 7 is officially released until mid October but what I saw on the net today is a 90 day trial of Windows 7 Enterprise available to try. This trial is mainly aimed at IT pros so they can get familiar with the inner workings and differences to previious Windows operating systems.

Check it out here.

Couple of key notes from MS:

* You have 10 days to activate it.
* After 90 days, the PC will shut down every hour.
* If you wish to use Windows 7 after the 90 days, you need to purchase it and reinstall it from scratch. Bit of a pain, but rememeber it is only a (free) trial

So, if you want to give it a go before deploying it in your business, you have a great opportunity.

There is a solution – Auto XP reboot remover. Best thing is it’s freeware as well.

Here’s some nifty instructions for making a shutdown shortcut on your desktop – complete with icon!

Click here to read how to do it.

HKEY_CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Options

and add a string value called DefaultPath then enter the folder path.

The next time you use the File, Save attachment menu, Outlook’s save explorer opens to that folder.

Disclaimer: Changing registry entries is done at the user’s own risk. I take no responsibility for any problems relating to the regaistry change mentioned above – but I have tried it and it works!