I just went thru this exact (almost) procedure, getting my new Vista desktop to network with our Win xp computer with printer. Not so easy, but here are the instructions which work: 1. To set up the house network, on the Vista computer: Start-Control Panel-System and Maintaint.- system-computer name,domain,workgroup settings area on the screen, hit the "change settings" button, then system properties-computer name tab-change computer name/domain changes-in Workgroup type your home network's name-OK. Then to set up the printer, a huge pain, but doable: On the Vista computer: Start-Control Panel-add printer-add Local Printer (I know it's on a network, but this is the way to do it)-create a new port-default is "local port",leave it-next you have to enter a port name, this is the tricky part, you have to type in the path to the printer manually, the path should look like: \\your exact host computer name\your exact printer's sharing name. That's it. To check for the exact host computer name, go to the host computer, my computer, and a screen will come up with it's official name, use it, case sensitive. For printer name, go to host computer, printers area thru the control panel, rt. click the printer and properties. A sharing tab will show, click it, the exact name for the shared printer will show, again use it case sensitive. The above took me all day when I got my new Vista, hope it helps.

Posting this as a follow up just for informational purposes. The problem seemed to be that for some reason there are two video adapters and two monitors (both identical) that show up in the device manager. Why? I have no idea. If I uninstall the "extra" set, they just re-appear. If I simply disable them, they stay disabled and I do not experience the blurry display. I spent months trying to track down the problem as I just had a gut feeling that the problem was not with the LCD display itself- I upgraded drivers, downgraded drivers, etc. I am not sure what made me notice the two entries in the Device Manager, but I think I have solved my problem.

If I were in the market for a new desktop, which I'm not, I would take quick look at the new HP Touch Smart. It comes with a 19" wide screen touchscrren monitor, and is just very, very slick looking. I ran into it at Best Buy earlier tonight and my mouth about dropped open. Also, it's stacked with some hot stuff inside. Take a look at the specs: Processor AMD Turion 64 X 2 Dual Core RL52 with AMD PowerNow and AMD LIVE! Technology Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Memory 2048MB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM memory (expandable to 4GB) Graphics card NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics with 256MB video memory Hard drive 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive Primary CD/DVD drive Slot-loaded SuperMulti Drive DVD burner with LightScribe Technology Secondary CD/DVD drive N/A Memory slots 2 SoDIMM (both occupied), HP Pocket Media drive bay (available) Front-access ports 8-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB , 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire) port, headphones, S-video, audio (L/R), composite input (analog video/audio) Communications Wireless LAN(802.11a/b/g) with built in WLAN antenna, Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet network interface, Sound Integrated audio, 6 speaker configurable and Built in 12W 2.0 speakers Monitor Touch Enabled 19" diagonal BightView LCD with height and tilt adjustment, Aspect Ratio 16.10 Dimensions 18.88(l) x 21.77" (w) x 11.37 (d/h) Web Camera Integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam with built in array microphone Personal Video Recorder NTSC TV Tuner and over the air ATSC high definition television tuner The price is $1799 Here is a link that might be useful: HP Touch Smart

As Mikie mentioned, dial-up routers are pretty are rare these days and the ones that do exist are going to be used or rather expensive. She probably doesn't really need one. If she is going to use dial-up, you need to find her an ISP that provides dial-up service. I don't know who they are any more but Google should be able to help. She doesn't need to contact the phone company unless she wants DSL. If she happens to be on one of the restricted minute phone plans, she'll need to change that. Dial-up is just like a voice call and would count toward her call allowance. Unless the laptop has a built in modem, she's going to need an external one that connects via USB. With that setup, there will be no need to worry about wireless networking.