The network that you are connected to is your Local Area Network - NOT the Internet. This suggest a problem, upstream but you have not said nearly enough about your setup to even guess answer.
I suggest that you call your ISP.
T, January 2011
it says i am connected to my network at the bottom but when i hit browser icon it does nothing. it shows it is trying and then stops.
sharon, January 2011
You do not say how you normally connect - most people seem to be wireless these days.
From Control Panel go to Network Connections. Right click on the wireless icon - select view available networks - tell the machine to connect to your wireless router.
You may see several wireless networks - yours will very probably be the strongest signal.