i ran diagnostics on my laptop modem with hp's self modem test and its all green but it can never find a dial tone. i know it isn't the line itself because i can connect to the internet on the other comp with the same line. i tried updating the driver for it just incase and that did not solve the problem. the diagnostics error said something about not being able to connect to netBIOS.

NetBIOS isn't needed for a dialup. Is the modem enabled in the device manager? Reset the BIOS to defaults. How do you know when a politician is lying? His mouth is moving.

connect your phone to the same line cord you have plugged into the modem. Does it have dial tone? Do you have a cell or second phone number you can call? If so go to a cmd prompt and type the following atdt phonenumber then hit enter You should be able to hear the modem dial. You should get the other phone called to ring Usually control z will close the connection or type ath which should hang up the modem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_... report back the results.