Why can I get connected to the network but not the internet?

Well, if they have had connection problems in the past with Vista, it sounds more or less like the problem is on their end, not yours. Most universities and businesses that allow personal devices on their wireless networks require a very high level of security. This is due to the generally sensitive nature of some of the information traveling across their networks (grades, financial info, confidential student files, etc). To prevent data theft and malicious use, they really tighten down their security.

The problem is, the tighter the security on a network, the more difficult it is for an authorized device to access it. Most likely, if they're having problems with Vista, it's because their security is too tight that it's causing a problem with clients running Vista.

A few things you can try would be:

- Running Windows Update to ensure you have the latest service packs and patches installed.

- Updating your wireless network drivers.

Normally when a computer is allows on to a local network, but not on to the Internet, it is not an issue at the computer, but at the router. For some reason it is not allowing that computer to go through its security to the Internet. Usually it means that you are sending the router the wrong password for that network, so it is refusing your service.

As the system requires for Windows 7 are LOWER than the requires for Vista, changing to Windows 7 will not slow your computer. In fact, it would be more likely to increase the speed of your laptop as it will have more resources available for running programs because Vista is not using them.

Boy oh boy you've given us ZERO real info to work with. What have you tried? What settings are you looking at? What have the schools IT people done?