Maybe this link will be of help? I'm afraid I also don't know vista, though its given me a fair share of headaches (my sister's notebook is also vista ¬_¬)
http://www.techsupportforum.com/micr...ta-laptop.html
Also, check the error logs for system events. I'm wondering if shortly after boot its choking on not finding the DNS or something like that. If thats the case, you may be able to target by IP address instead of by machine name to see if that helps.