linney,
Using the Network Setup Wizard was the original plan. Seemed simple enough. That is how i set up my home network in the first place. With my work computer, the My Network Places explorer window does not give me the option to run the Network Setup Wizard. I was able to find it through the help menus. When I ran it, I get the message that I listed in my first post. I know conceptually that the wizard sets up network, but I am curious what the wizard is actually doing.
I was advised by a knowledgeable friend that I could change to a static ip instead automatically detecting it. I was told to enter the same IP address that my desktop has except for the last number, and use the same default gateway that my desktop uses. Reboot, and ping the desktop and I should have connectivity. Didn't work though. Pinging timed out, and I lost my internet, which makes me think that I lost the router altogether. Doing that does not change my MAC address does it? I have the router accepting only entered MAC addresses. The good news is switching back to auto ip got me back to where I started.
Did I miss something using this procedure?