Issues with Networking & dv6500us

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forums, but was hoping to find help here that I can't seem to get anywhere else. My dad is having a strange issue I can't figure out on his HP laptop (dv6500us - specs below). I'm an IT professional with 14 years of troubleshooting experience, and this one has me baffled. Admittedly, I'm a bit short on knowledge about Vista, but this shouldn't be this difficult to resolve. For some reason, all the network capabilities on his laptop have stopped working. The wireless connection doesn't work, and neither does his ethernet port (both appear in the device manager, and have the latest drivers). This seemed to start after the Windows Vista updates that came out on 12 Feb, and we've been trying to troubleshoot it ever since. Things we have done (not in order):

1) Uninstalled the devices and reinstalled them using the latest patches. I suspected a hardware problem, but in my experience, when hardware fails, the device usually doesn't even show up in device manager - had this happen on a couple of HP laptops before.
2) Connected the laptop to the router (rj45) and they don't appear to communicate at all. ipconfig shows that the router never assigns an IP address or anything. Other laptops and desktops in the household connect just fine and are automatically given an IP address.
3) Restored the laptop to factory settings and then installed latest drivers. Still no joy.

Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/4MB L2Cache)
Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
Memory 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Graphics Card 383MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Microphone + Webcam
Networking Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
Hard Drive 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer

At this point, I still suspect a hardware failure, but the HP tech he spoke with disagrees and tried to pass the blame to the router. That didn't seem to make much sense b/c others can connect just fine and it doesn't have any exotic settings (like in/excluding a specific MAC address or something) enabled. He called Linksys, and they tried to pass the buck to Windows Vista, which makes a bit more sense, as the problem started occurring after the set of patches on 12 Feb. I was hoping someone here could lend some suggestions, as I'm pretty much out of ideas on how to 1) narrow down the root cause and 2) fix it. My dad (NOT a technical person at all) is pretty frustrated and about ready to give the laptop away or something.

 

Have HP replace the wireless card under warranty. The system restore rules out most, if not all software issues.

 

ok, so we already know its definitely its not a router problem. its probably not a Vista problem, it could be a hardware/driver problem.

try reinstalling Vista but dont update anything, see what happens. if it still doesnt work, then i hope you still have warranty.