I am experiencing a perplexing problem and believe it originates with the ACER Laptop PC that was purchased recently. My ACER laptop is model Extensa 5420, with Microsoft Windows Vista XP Home Premium software with SP1 installed. I use this laptop in a small home network as a wireless PC and have been trying to get it to connect with the network to no avail. The network is configured as follows: Desktop PC #1 with Microsoft Vista Home Premium edition and SP1 installed and Ethernet hardwired into the network. Desktop PC #2 with Microsoft Vista Home Premium edition and SP1 installed and Ethernet hardwired into the network. Desktop PC Server with Microsoft XP Home edition and SP3 installed and Ethernet hardwired into the network. Toshiba Satellite Laptop #1 with Microsoft XP Home edition and SP3 installed and installed wirelessly into the network. ACER Extensa 5420 with Microsoft Vista Home Premium edition and SP1 installed and installed wirelessly into the network. The problem is that all PCs except the ACER see and communicate with the network. The ACER refuses to see the Desktop PC Server which is where all of our data is stored. The Desktop PC Server sees the ACER but cannot communicate with it but the ACER will not come up on the network at all. I have gone thru the normal steps of verifying the network name, machine ID, rebooting etc., but nothing works. I would appreciate any help you could give me as this has become quite a problem and I am not sure where to turn.

Hi, Thank you for your post. Based on my research, I would like to suggest the following: 1. Please check if all the computers are in the same workgroup andsame subnet. 2. Check if the problematic computer and other computers on the network can ping each other both by IP Address and computer name. You can also try to access the computers with both \\computer name and \\XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX to see if they works. 3. Ensure the firewall on the computers are configured to allow the Files and Printer sharing. You can also disable the firewall on the problematic computer to see if it works. 4. Check the following settings in the Network and Sharing Center: 1) Network location Private 2) Network discovery - On 5. Please make sure that the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) has been enabled on the Windows Vista computer and the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder has been installed on the Windows XP computers. Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=4F01A31D-EE46-481E-BA11-37F485FA34EA&displaylang=en Meanwhile, I will share the following related documents with you: Networking home computers running different versions of Windows http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/6ed24a90-6b57-4f0f-a3b3-e521ae945f331033.mspx Troubleshoot problems finding computers on a home network http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/5723d061-b884-40da-b5e7-94a55f6fcead1033.mspx Troubleshoot problems with computers not appearing on the network map http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/c8fc20fb-9ce6-43a5-a7e2-d10d4871af791033.mspx Hope the issue can be resolved soon. Thanks. Nicholas Li - MSFT