Unable to properly connect to a network

Hello, I am trying to help a family member connect to our local network
with her brand new dell laptop. I am familiar with XP and therefor have
never really experienced vista in any way. When I go to the "Network"
tab I get a little message telling me that I am not connected to any
network, I then go in wireless networks and enter my routers settings,
I press connect and everything seems fine. When I'm done with that, I
go to "Network and Sharing Center" and I see "Not connected to any
network" I click and I go back to my wireless network page where I see
my local network which is clearly connected. I try to diagnose the
problem but all to no avail. Please note that internet explorer still
works fine and that I can see my other computers through the network
settings, but that MSN doesn't work.




--
lelorien