Desktop

Try this click on File in the menu bar and make sure that Work Off Line is not ticked. Since you can use a different user profile and get a connection there has to be something in that user profile that is preventing the connection from working. And with XP there are so many options that it would take forever to go through them all so just create a new User Account with Admin Privileges then log off the current User Account and log in on the newly created user account and go into the User List in the Control Panel and delete the old user profile but not not delete the data transfer that to the new profile that you have created and after you have deleted the original account rename the new account to the old User Accounts name.

Col

No you save the Files in the Documents folder as well as the Favourites List Address Book and E-Mail which while granted are all in the Documents settings Folder are not just the ones in the My Documents Folder.

Was this the problem that the NB came in with or is it just something that you've run across as you been working on it? If it's the latter it could be someones attempt to secure the thing and has been somehow set that way. You've got to love the end user they never cease to amaze me on ways that they find to stuff up something. :)

Col

Those files that I listed are all used in a routine backup and can be manually saved or as I do use a script to backup daily. The advantage of doing it that way is that you are only importing the actual data and none of the operating system files so the new account should work without the loss of any data. For E-Mail all you should need to import is the Address Book and the E-Mails which I would backup to a different folder anyway before I started working on the system just in case what has been done causes something nasty to happen while I'm trying to cure the problem that has been created. I've lost count of the number of times that I've got handed computers with similar problems and all of the data has been erased which of course they want back after they have overwritten it several times in an attempt to recover from the mess that they have made.

I'm with you on the shortcut though it if done properly should have had no effect but then again I really never trust end users to do things properly. If there is a hard way of doing something they will find it and muck up the system as well. I'm glad it's your problem as it's really anyones guess as to what has been done to this unit to have this problem.

Col

Go to Internet Options. On the general tab click settings. Lower the number of "amount of disk space to use" to 20 MB.

Click OK once. Click Delete Files on the general tab.

Click on the connections tab. Assuming you are not using a dialup connection, make sure that never dial a connection is checked or that all dialup options are greyed out.

Click on LAN settings. If it is checked, uncheck "automatically detect settings." (Sometimes you need this, sometimes you don't; try it either way.)

Make sure that the other two options on this page are NOT checked (automatic configuration script and proxy server.)

Click on the privacy tab and then on the sites button and make sure no sites are being blocked that you are trying to get to.

Finally click on the security tab, click on custom level and reset to medium level.

If that doesn't work we need more info.

Have your account right for connecting the internet explorer to internet? Verify even this option.
Attention internet explorer and netscape don't use the same services, in this way it's possible this scenario.