My new HP with vista slowed down and would freeze up after I loaded on Zone Alarm...I totally removed all signs of Norton..still slow...I would have to power off just to shut down computer or get to a new program. I was loosing icons..and programs...and then they would mysteriously return...only to disappear again...whole computer became very unstable.. Third call to the Costco Techs(luckily that's where I bought this computer)had me do a system restore with them on the phone holding my hand...this restore took be back to supposed "out of the box" factory condition... But I swear this "out of the box" was somehow different from when I first turned on the machine...I am wondering if this was a returned computer that someone had previously "dinked" with....anyway I very slowly and very methodically added back my bookmarks, favorites and email addresses using Windows email not outlook...and reinstalled router, printer, mouse, and external HD software. I logged each thing I did to this machine and each time checked speed...internet was good and holding...I downloaded and installed AVG freebie ..got rid of Norton trial that came with the HP...absolutely no more Zone Alarm..although it was great with my XP machine...then I loaded on program software like Office, Quicken, Quickbooks, and Turbo Tax. Cross my fingers...everything seems to be running ok..and as fast as my XP computer.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. We do not have VOIP, this router (although marketed for Vonage) was a close-out and thus, cheap. We only use the internet connectivity part of the router. We have no telephones at all. There is no possibility that anyone else is using our bandwidth. For one, we are subject to FAP and believe me we would know (our allowance is 185 MB a day in downloads). Also, even though it is a wireless signal, it isn't that strong and someone would have to be on our road, on our property, pretty much right in front of the house to use our signal. So, no, there is no misuse of our bandwidth. We do not use a firewall. We have tried them, and simply did not like how much they slowed down our computers. The router nor the Hughes Net modem does not have a firewall. We don't want a firewall on our systems. I also feel that our antivirus and spyware programs are suitable for our needs- I don't want to add any more programs- our machines are not "souped up" modern machines but they serve our needs well. In other words, small hard drives and enough memory to do what we need to do. We use the Tea Timer in Spybot, along with the browser protection. At one time we had Spyware Blaster, but in recent months we just rely on SpyBot. We have well-maintained systems and adding any more protection programs would be overkill, in my opinion. We have used the internet for several years and have never had a virus or spyware. Our computers are used mostly for schoolwork, although we use do use webmail. We do very little pleasure surfing. The router did not come with any software at all. Only the user guide on CD.

Zep - I have 3 devices in my network list: 1) 1394 net adapter 2)intel 82566mm gigabit network connection (this one I was able to get an updated driver - but on my network connections, it still shows as local area connection - "network cable unplugged,fire..." and I'm not able to click that and get the rest of the sentence. if I click it it just gives me the name of the adapter. 3) intel wireless wifi link 4965AGN The first and third ones say they are connected and firewalled. I believe that this last wireless 4965AGN is the one that has problems and gets repaired. I could be wrong about that. The LAN one I think has always been unconnected/unplugged. I don't know what that's for or if I need it. Is that my wired internet connection? Thanks. Lynn. PS - if I go through network devices and select update drivers, it only offered updated drivers for the intel 82566mm gigabit network connection. Is there any point in googling for updated driver if this route indicate no new drives exist?

I was able to flush the dns on both the xp and vista laptops. But I still can't connect either laptop wirelessly to the "fmaily room" network (which is still unsecured). I cannot access the Nat,spi or firewall soI don't know if that's the problem. Both laptops show a strong signal (full bars) to the family room network - but don't connect. They do connect via wired connection (does this mean I have so far created a network switch). On both laptops I selected "family room" as the preferred network to connect to. But both connected to my Lynn network (from the opposite corner of the house - with only a weak signal). On the Vista laptop it says Windows cannot connect to "family room" - and when asked to connect to family room, it said "Windows association failed due to an unknown reason." When I selected "diagnose and repair, it said Windows did not find any problems with your Internet connection." Then I tried one further thing. I saw on the Vista laptop that it still listed the family room network as having WPA2 security - so i changed what the laptop had for listed for family room network to reflect no current security settings. Then I tried to connect again. It wouldn't connect. Then I clicked repair/diagnose - and it said "this network is marked as a "hidden" network and is either not in the range of this computer or the wireless settings saved on this computer do not match the settings of the network." It is in range of the network - 3 feet away and receiving a full strong signal. So perhaps the network settings do not match the router or access point (although I'm not sure where to look to check this since I think I set it all up to match). The other thing is says is "if you own or set up this network, reset your wireless router or access point and try connecting again." Should I try this? Does it mean unplugging SMC access point, linksys router and modem - waiting and replugging them in? If so, in what order? Or does this mean resetting the SMC completely and starting from scratch? So now what? Jane - I realize that Mikie's the guy - and I very much appreciate his help. Those links helped me get clearer on definitions, but don't really get specific enough to address these set up complications. Thank you. Lynn.