Is the wireless signal protected by a password (WEP or WPA)? Or is the administration of the router protected? Those are different things. If you're not using security for the wireless signal, somebody could be piggybacking on your connection. If you didn't change the SSID, they could be connecting by accident. I remember a few years ago, one of my brothers called me because he was helping a friend connect. He told me that when he viewed wireless connections he saw 4 that said Linksys and wanted to know which one was the right one. I had him change it in the router and also set up security (I think at the time, WEP was the only option, but WPA is better and should be available on all systems now).

Thanks for all the input. I did try hooking a monitor to the laptop to eliminate the possibility that it was just the screen or the cable that connects--it showed nothing. I agree that the repair may not be cost effective--but wanted to try everything I could before purchasing another PC. Also just tried Zep16's advise to keep hitting the F8 key, but just as he suspected--the menu never appeared. Although laptops are difficult to troubleshoot because replacement parts aren't readily available. We do have 2 of these laptops exactly alike and I wondered if it would be advisable to switch out the hard drives, etc... to see if I could pin point the problem. Since my knowledge is limited, I wasn't sure if taking the hard drive from the working machine was a good idea. Thanks again--All input appreciated.

One of the best ways I have found to combat this, especially with a laptop, is to wear a pair of those skintight latex gloves that one can get by the boxful/drugstore...futher, when removing modules such as memory or mini pci cards, grasp then between to fingers on the edge and keep fingers off of the face and back where the electronic components are..stay away from carpeted areas and use eg kitchen table Here is a link that might be useful: ESD-Electro static discharge

It does not seem to be a network adapter issue either, as both wireless and direct connection are problematic. The next step to see if a program typically Anti Virus is causing issue. So lets boot the computer to safe mode with Networking and see if you can connect that way, lets just concentrate using a direct connection. Restart the computer, keep tapping the F8 Key, the computer will boot to the advanced boot options menu black screen with white letter. From the list presented to you, use the arrow key to select Safe Mode With Networking once selected hit enter on the keyboard. Now try to connect to only Google.com. Let us know if you can connect that way. Do not surf the internet in this mode. Please be sure to try another browser too maybe before doing all this above in case this is a silly internet explorer issue.. Joe