BleepingComputer.com: Device Manager & Network Card not working

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop running on Windows Vista SP2. A few days ago, I suddenly could not access the internet from that laptop. I checked the network connections and found that it could not detect the network, although I could still use my other laptop to access the internet. Thinking that it's a problem with the network card, I decided to check the Device Manager, only to find that it was not working.

I can access the device manager's main page, seeing the list of all devices. but I cannot do anything there. Whenever I select a device and attempt to view its properties, the device manager becomes unresponsive. It doesn't hang but just refuses to show me any useful information. Neither can I perform any action on the devices as well (disable etc.)

I have not encountered anything like this before and trawling the net doesnt seem to bring up any examples of people meeting this problem. Can anyone here help please?

Oh, by the way, I just want to add that I don't reckon it's a malware issue coz all other signs of the laptop are fine, like booting up, running and CPU activity on task manager.

Any help much appreciated!

Did you try system restore?

I did try a couple of old restore points, but the device manager did not work in any of them. Given that the device manager isn't something I check on very often, I don't know how far back to go as well. The restore points I tried were of different lengths, like a day, a week and a month.

Create new user with admin rights and see, if you have same problem.

I've just tried it and it is the same. no access to internet, nor is device manager working.

Do you have Vista DVD?

yes, I do have it. I am leaving for a week-long conference though, so I wouldnt be able to do much from now. What do you recommend I do? I'll update you with the results in a week's time. many thanks!

I suggest repair installation: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html