I have a fairly new PC that suddenly lost the ability to connect to it's built in network cards (hardwire & wireless). The PC is an Acer 5910 Desktop that came with Windows 7 Home Premium. I ran the Anytime Upgrade for Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) and installed typical PC software (Quickbooks, Macrium backup, etc.). I ran MS Update to patch the OS several times in the last few weeks, then installed VirtualBox which seemed to work nicely. So far, everything is going great. Then another MS Update and now the OS won't connect to either network card. SYMPTOMS - network icon in the system tray has a red X, clicking on it shows "No connections are available" - in the Network and Sharing Center, I get "Unkown. The dependency or group failed to start." where you would normally see the network adapters. - in Device Manager, both network adapters show up: 802.11n Wireless PCI Express Card LAN Adapter Realtech PCIe GBE Family controller - Properties / Device status on both adapers gives "The device is working properly" - "Roll Back Driver" is grayed out for both adapters - Event Viewer (details attached) shows that most networking services did not start, beginning with the NSI proxy service TROUBLESHOOTING SO FAR - Booted on a Macrium Backup CD: was able to see other devices on the network & browse servers; network card & network seem OK, must be OS/drivers - System restore (using Control Panel/Recovery/System Restore) to just before installing VirtualBox: no change - System restore to several days earlier: no change - Uninstalled network adapters in Device Manager & rebooted: Adapters reinstalled without error, but otherwise, no change - Downloaded and installed new drivers from Acer: no change - Ran Windows 7 Repair disk - Startup Repair: no change - Ran Windows 7 Repair disk - System Restore: no change - In System Configuration, changed to "Selective Startup", load system services only; Safe Boot with Network, disabled all non-Microsoft services, disabled all startup apps: no change QUESTIONS - Since this was a "Anytime Upgrade", I do not have a Windows DVD or even the product key (it is different than the key that came with Home Premium, but does not show up anywhere), so how can I reinstall the OS from scratch? - Is there anything that I can do short of reinstalling the OS?

You can try In-place Upgrade with that AnyTime Upgrade disk to repair the system. If it does not work, you may need to reinstall the Windows 7 Home premium and then upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thank you for the reply, but there was no AnyTime Upgrade disk. The machine came with Windows 7 Home installed and I clicked on Anytime Upgade so it was all done over the wire. No Windows 7 Professional disk, no Windows 7 product key to be found. I just entered my credit card number and viola! It worked very nicely until there was a problem. You are correct, I can reinstall Windows 7 Home and then upgrade again, but I would like to do so without having to pay again for an upgrade that I already paid for once. If I reinstall Home with the original Home key and go through the upgrade again, does Microsoft track that the Home product key was updated and allow it to update again without requiring a credit card?

Are you using security software with a firewall or network monitoring features? Write down or save your subscription key. Uninstall it and reinstall it. Also, as VirtualBox was the last app installed prior to the problem, that may be the cause. You should have a received a confirmation email regarding your Anytime upgrade with a key or a link to access it.

Can you launch the Anytime Upgrade now? If you can, continue the upgrade process to repair the system. However if you cannot, you may need to reinstall all the systems if you would like to repair the system.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.