I'm running Vista Home Premium, 32-bit version with SP1

I installed .NET framework 3.5 with SP1 in order to use the D&D 4th Edition Character Builder beta.

That's where everything went south.

I found that I was unable to connect to the internet consistently, I would have to constantly reset my adapter, as the computer was unable to communicate with the primary DNS server.

After trying a ton of things (ipconfig release & renew, reinstall network adapter drivers, etc.), my boyfriend suggested I roll back to a previous restore point. I chose the one just before I installed the software for the beta and .NET 3.5. Internet connection was fine after the rollback.

I tried installing again, thinking maybe it was just a fluke, that it may have been issues with my router (a Linksys WRT54G) but nope, I get the same issues. Roll back to the same restore point, and everything is fine again.

I wasn't able to find anything obvious that pointed to why I had connection issues after installing .NET 3.5; and was hoping that there may be someone here that has heard of this before?

remove the dhcp assigned dns servers and replace with statically assigned dns server of: 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2

if your problem goes away contact your ISP as they have issues with thier dns server.

I am highly doubtful that a .NET update would affect dns within the network stack.

Ah, forgot to mention that. I don't have DHCP assigned DNS server set up - the router is set up with my ISP's static DNS addresses 207.69.188.185 and .186 - works fine now that I've restored to a previous point, and works until I install the .NET application that's bundled with Character Builder.

Maybe the version .NET that Character Builder installs just doesn't play nice with my PC. I have downloaded the MSDN version of 3.5 with SP1 and may try installing that first and see if I have the same issue.

Nope, even the version of .NET framework 3.5 SP1 that I downloaded from MSDN causes the same connectivity issues. I rolled back yet again after that.

Go into the properties of the network adapter and uncheck IPv6 and see if that fixes your connectivity issue.

unchecking IPv6 and restarting IE doesn't work, and not after a restart either