Hey I am having a similar problem. Same message "The dependency service or group failed to start". I haven't tried this yet but in another online forum they say to type sfc/scannow in the cmd or run. I just got my computer back up and running and connected to the internet. Windows update came on and updated.....then it did a restart and gave the error. Gonna go try the cmd line now.

Joson, Thank you very much for posting this. It was very helpful. We were experiencing a similar issue with Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit edition. The network connection icon was displaying a 'Connection status: unknown The dependency service or group failed to start' error. We were receiving a slew of other errors as well. After researching this, contacting Microsoft and Dell, and continued searches, I stumbled across your post, and ran the command line, and am able to connect to the internet, again. I suspect the issue was caused a by Windows update(s). Any ideas what caused this? And how to prevent the problem from returning? Would like to install SP1, also. Thanks in advance. -wj