A new problem for me
Long story short,everything was fine fine until I came back from 5 days away.My ISP had cut my phone line.That is now all sorted and I can connect fine but the connection icon is crossed out !? There was an update but now I cant open things like Windows Mail,even msconfig or cmd wont start even when left on for 6 hours ! I`ve spoken to Microsoft but they want $80 to assist me and I suspect all they will tell me is to reinstall Vista.Unfortunately I dont have the disk ( PC vendors swear they sent it,I say they didnt ) Strange thing is my games (eg Crysis ) all seem to work fine,even online so I really dont know how to fix this. If I can get hold of a Vista install disk,will that work ? I have the code numbers .
I had connection problems once before(after a previous update,would you believe !) Microsoft suggested at the time that I uninstall my Anti Virus (PCCillin ).Stupidly I followed their advice but once I got my conn. going(no thanks to them ) I could`nt reinstall it ! As a stop/gap measure I down loaded Microsofts trial version of LiveOneCare but even that won`t work now. I`ve tried to do a system restore but that wont start either,
Can anyone offer any suggestions ?

Well, if you purchased the laptop from an OEM, why wouldn't they provide you with the disk?
Most of them are kind enough to send a replacement. Further, this sounds more like a hardware issue.
Can't be sure without testing the hardware though. With a Vista CD you can check memory and the hard drive.
You could download SystemRescue CD from Distrowatch.com or Ultimate boot CD and check out the hardware.

Who's the Manufacturer of the hardware?

Have you tried using a restore point that goes back to before you went away? Just a thought.

Good luck!