I'm running a brand new Compaq Presario laptop with the following specs:

Celeron 2.4 ghz
256 MB DDR RAM
20 GB Hard Drive
56K Modem
10/100 Ethernet card

When I went to setup a dial-up networking connection in XP (using the New Connection Wizard) the Dial-Up option (Connect using Dial-Up Modem) was grayed out completly, as was the option for an ISDN/DSL connection.

I investigated this and discovered that my Remote Access Connection Manager service was not started; so I tried to start it and was given Error 5: Access Denied. I checked the user permissions on my user and the Admin, and there's no reason I can see that it won't let me activate it. Everything that this service depends on is running.

I've gone so far as to reinstall the TCP/IP components off of an XP Pro CD and it didn't do it. I've tried copying the svchost.dll and svchost.exe from another XP Pro system, and that also did nothing. I tried copying the new connection wizard from another machine and running it on the laptop in question, and no success.

What am I over looking? Please help me.

You need to be sure that the network card drivers are installed and the nic is working properly before the OS will allow setup of TCP/IP. I don't use XP but you could check the properties under network places.

Tex, Maybe you should try to take a look in this article in the microsoft database:

"Access Denied" Error Message When Trying to Start a Service in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=256299

I have the same problem, but I havent tried this yet. Ill see if this works tonight.

I had exactly the same problem after reinstalling Windows XP -- my dialup connections wouldn't work, and it wouldn't let me create new ones. When I tracked down the problem, it was as you stated -- Remote Access Connection Manager couldn't start (Error 5). I tried everything, and then my IT manager at work told me to try installing Windows XP service pack 1... that fixed it. Unfortunately, if you don't have Internet connection on your computer, then you'll have to find another way to download it, and you'll need to download the Network version (128 MB!) -- the Express version communicates with your computer to determine which modules you need, so you need an internet connection to do that!

Good luck -- hope it works as well for you as it did for me.