You cannot start or stop the network

I cannot browse the network from Windows ME. When I
click "Entire Network" I get a diaglog box that
says "Windows is unable to gain access to the network.
This may be for a number of reasons."

I've exhausted the troubleshooter, doing everything it
says. I'm convinced that

Client for Microsoft Networks
Realtek RTL8139(A) Fast Ethernet Adapter
NetBUI
TCP/IP
File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks

are all installed OK. The system manager utility says
that the Realtek adapter is working properly.

I can ping other computers on the network. ipconfig shows
that DHCP is working.

Trying net use ... gives an error message:
"Error 3545: You cannot start or stop the network from
within an MS-DOS window"

Trying net diag ... gives:
"Error 7361: IPX or NetBIOS must be running in order to
load the network services..."

IExplorer works to browse the Internet.

Other TCP/IP applications work, such as telnet, ftp

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Amelie