I did a hardware and memory test using the computers Hardware Diagnostic Tools application and everything came back as passed. If something was wrong wouldn't it have said so? Would doing a complete reinstall solve this problem? I have had this computer since December 2008 and have never ran into this problem before. It was only after I played around with the network settings checking to see if I had wifi and/or ad hoc capabilities that it started up. I also notice that my connection goes to an 'X' on and off while the other two computers in this house remain connected.