"Duplicate name exists on network"; but its actually not there

I have been getting the "duplicate name exists on network" message at startup the last few weeks. I do not have any other computers. I did belong to a Cisco Systems VPN via work, but have now left that job and removed that program via add/remove a few days ago with no effect on the dup. name message. Have Norton Internet security, Adaware, Spybot, Windows Defender all up to date and clean. Ran AVG free scan, no problems found. Have XP, IE 7 and Firefox-use both. Recently moved, switched from Earthlink/Time Warner to DCM cable.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Possibility is that you have two network adapters running on your machine...one of them virtual (the one associated with the former VPN.) Perhaps the virtual adapter hasn't been completely deleted?

To deal with that problem, open up a command prompt (by pressing the Start button, then Run, then type cmd in the box).

At the prompt that should show up, type these two lines:
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
START DEVMGMT.MSC

Then, in the window that pops up, click on View, and check "Show Hidden Devices".

Then click on the plus sign next to Network adapters. You'll get a list of network adapters; some of them will look "transparent." For each of the transparent ones, right-click it, and choose "Uninstall". Do the same thing if you recognize your no-longer-needed VPN adapter.

Then reboot, and see if your problem's solved.

Is your workgroup's name the same as your computer's name?

You might try using XP's network setup Wizard. You are in fact connected to a network: the Internet. The Wizard will step you through the process, and it will allow you to assign a Workgroup name. Unfortunately the Network wizard has a lot of options, and I don't think they are intuitively obvious. You may need some local assistance. But you can get the answers here, if you are persistent, and answer all of the questions that you will be asked, in response to your questions, if you are confused by the wizard.

Right-click on "My Computer." Go to Properties. Choose the "Computer Name" tab. The computer name appears after "Full Computer name", and the workgroup name is shown after "WORKGROUP". Make sure that the computer name is not the same as the workgroup name.

The duplicate name error refers to the computers name not the workgroup name, this is usually caused by having a wired lan connection and a wireless lan connection at the same time, if this is the case just disable one or other.

OK, problem solved after name changed! Much thanks for all your help. Sorry I have been slow to respond-just moving in, so crazy here!

Regards,
Penzoil