>Hi Ed,
>
>>As usual, failing to check the ntfaq was a mistake. From www.ntfaq.com:
>
>I did, I found this there and even on the MS Site, it didn't help. I'll retry though, cause I messed up.
>
>>Another cause for this error is if you installed Service Pack 3 onwards before installing any network components. If this is the case then re-apply Service Pack 3 and any subsequent hotfixes. It is good practise to reapply a service pack whenever you modify/add components to the system.
>
>I had SP6a on, then removed it and it reverted to SP3, now that I think of it, because of the back up it may have not been done right, I'll try again.
>

Reapplying SP3 or later after adding the network components would've been fine. As a general rule, any time you load much of anything other than a video or printer driver off the original distribution CD, it's good practice to reapply the latest Service patch you'd installed to that point, to ensure that components sent out on the distribution that had subsequently been changed are changed in place. The SPs do not put all possible things on your system; only the components present or needed at the time the SP is applied are installed.