I recently upgraded from Vista Ultimate 32 Bit to Windows 7 Ultimate. Now the network icon in my system tray always displays with red x over the top of it even when I am connected to the network. Mousing over the icon displays a tooltip with the word Home on one line followed by the words Internet access in italics on a second line. I have four network connection listings as follows: Local Area Connection (via Realtek 8319 10/100 port built into motherboard) conncted to Netopia 3347 ADSL router Office (VPN Connection to Windows SBS Server 2003) Home Office (VPN Connection to XP Pro computer) Incoming Connections (configured for VPN only has I removed the modem from the computer during an upgrade) After trying different things to try and fix the issue I noticed a post on a different forum where someone had experienced this same issue and gotten the red x to go away by deleting their Incoming Connections listing. I just checked on my computer and when I deleted the Incoming Connections listing the red x imediatly went away. When I recreated the icon the red x stayed away, but only until I restarted the Network List service (some one else had solved there red x issue by having this service restart after startup via a script) at which time it came back. It appears that when you have a Windows 7 computer configured to accept incoming network connections the system tray icon for networking will always display a red x when no incoming VPN connections are active. Is there a way to get the get the red x to not appear without removing the Incoming Connections entry or could I have run into bug in Windows 7?

This is solved here: http://www.spiders-design.co.uk/fix-wrong-network-icon-in-windows-7/ Thanks Spiders but this is NOT the fix for this issue. Nothing is solved. Still waiting...

I also have this problem. When the connection is active, on the server-side it is shown as "not connected" and media state "connected". I see this is a problem which exists now for almost a year. That's really embarrassing for Microsoft. Hope this problem gets fixed soon.

I have the same problem. The connection is fine, but the icon in the system tray displays a red x anyway. It started when i plugged my wlan usb stick into a differrent usb port than usual. Now it stays that way, whichever usb port I choose. Also, my list of network connections is displayed as empty, although I am connected via the network connection "Wireless Network Connection". (Which is not displayed in the list.) Anybody any ideas?

My Vaio laptop Windows 7 pro 64 bit was working fine until today. The red x is ONLY present with my US Cellular wireless modem. Not my home wireless modem. It was working with the USB wireless modem but instead of the staircase icon it would show the ethernet wired connected icon. Now it shows the staircase icon with a big red ugly "X". Rick