I think that it is me that mis lead you. The game I'm having a problem with, I directly connect to my friends computer, he gives me his ip address and thats how I connect, this is where the problem lies. I used windows xp before and had no trouble connecting to his computer but now I had upgraded to windows 2000 pro I can,t ping his computer to join the game. I do use gamespy and other programs to play other games and have no problem in doing so it is just when I try to connect to my friends computer through his ip address.
thanks for your help and your time.