Just before heading down to the PDC I got a new laptop that I did a clean install on. That of course included ASP.NET 1.1 and Visual Studio.NET 2003. I didn't get a chance to actually create any projects before I left and as luck would have it once I got down here I had the need to create some Web Projects in preparation for the upcoming Seattle CodeCamp. I fire up Visual Studio.NET, click Create Project, Select a web project and it just hangs there. I left it for an hour and it never came back! I try and request http://localhost/get_aspx_ver.aspx which will usually return the ASP.NET version along with a 404. The browser just sits there interminably.
I reinstalled IIS. I repaired and then reinstalled Visual Studio.NET. My new laptop was getting very close to having some serious gravity problems.
Finally I found an obscure post on http://groups.google.com that solve it for me. It was the Cingular Connection Manager 4.3.9.0 I use with my GPRS/EDGE/UMTS card for internet access on the road. Removed the connection manager and all was right with the world once again.
Why the post? I am hoping someone else who hits the problem finds this post and it saves them 8 hours of their life that they will never get back.