Are you using WiFi ? ... with xp the message for the network cable is unplugged is pretty much normal for some - when they use wireless.

You havent said how you connect.... but.. If you are using wifi, you might look at your connections and I think you can right click the wired nic card and select disable... or you can just go to device manager and disable it there.

Perhaps you will get lucky and that will fix you for now. If you're not using wireless try disabling it.

That error message of the PCi conflict is usually an irq error meaning you've added a hardware device and its conflicting. Or you have a hardware device that has failed, or has a bad driver.

fwiw... test from a quick web search;
I had the same problem with a Toshiba A75-S209 that came into my shop. The exact same message of
PCI Network Controller in Slot 03
Bus: 02 Device: 02 Function: 00

After researching the problem, I just removed the Atheros Mini PCI card from the computer and the message resolved. Easy to remove, just remove one screw from the bottom of the unit (after unplugging it and removing the battery of course). Carefully remove the two antenna wires from the card, then remove the card as you would a stick of memory. I left the antenna wires in the unit, taped so they would not short out or touch any other components. Closed the unit back up, and no error message, and clean boot up. Total time for repair, approx 15 minutes.

Thanks for the message, Mikie. I connect via a wireless G broadband router that's connected to my desktop DSL. Haven't added or removed any hardware ever. Before I unscrew anything, how do I find out if I have a PCI card in the computer? and once removed, is it not needed? Is there someway of scanning for defective hardware or drivers? Sorry for all the questions but really lost here.

Maybe the first thing I would do ..
Go into the device manager(right click myComputer & select properties)
and look for yellow exclamation or red stop errors.

While there under Network Adapters you should see two adapters;
One will be your wireless adapter and it probably says 802.11b/g/n and manufacturer name.
The other network adapter should say something about 'Ethernet adapter and manufacturer name.

Double click the Ethernet adapter and then look around for probably a check box that says something about Disable this device.

I would disable that ethernet adapter because you aren't using it... that will stop that Network Cable Unplugged message,,, and might possibly be the conflict - if so you might get lucky and your wifi will connect after a reboot.

Ummm, what else might you try.
The Event logs in your computer management window might give you a hint what's wrong... thats accessable by right clicking myComputer and select Manage.

You say you never have added hardware... hardware that would use an irq would be things like a portable hard drive, a flash memory card, anything usb, a pc-card slot device, a seperate monitor. Try unplugging things attached one by one to see if one of those might be causing the conflict.

Hopefully its not your wifi card, but if after trying to eliminate the conflict and nothing else hardware wise stops the error message maybe you could disable the wifi adapter in Device Manager and then if the error message instantly goes away that would be a good indication its bumm or maybe rolling back or reinstalling the driver might fix it.

Thanks, Mikie for the options. I'll try these after I get through my projects today, got 3 outside appointments also. I get a message that defines Realtek RTL 8139/870X Family Fast Ethernet NIC but at this time not sure where or how I got that. I've never put anything onto or in this laptop. It did get opened a couple of times to fix the loose AC connection but that was last year and haven't had that problem since. I didn't do it, a friend did it but he won't be here for a few weeks. I saw him open it to get to the connection and it was scary. Hopefully this can be fixed through the keyboard.

Went into device manager and the Atheros wireless network adaptor had a yellow exclamation mark. I disabled the Ethernet RTL Fast Ethernet adapter. Checked troubleshoot the Atheros wireless adapter and option was to uninstall and reinstall. I have the recovery disk that came with the laptop. I tried rebooting it first but I got the same error message about the conflict. I do appreciate your help. I hope I have time to work on it some tomorrow although I doubt it, really busy weekend coming up. I'm good for now as long as my desktop is percolating along.