said by aguy1:ipconfig /all on my wife's machine and mine both have a "host name" and "primary dns suffix" that seem to be set through work.
Friend's computer does not.
Could this be the problem?
Could be. I don't think that I have ever seen a "Primary Dns Suffix" field populated for home users. I believe it has something to do with running a local DNS server on a LAN. The "Primary Dns Suffix" could also be related VPN, I expect...
Mine looks like this:
C:\Documents and Settings\Norman>ipconfig -all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : KOZUE
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : aosake.net
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : aosake.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-17-31-C6-CC-63
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.102.34
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.102.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.102.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, September 10, 2007 20:53:15
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, September 13, 2007 20:53:15
AFAIK, there will always be a "Host Name"; equal to whatever you named the computer when you set up the LAN (NetBIOS name).