Ok, I’ve run across this a few times and while I’ve never (bothered) to (worry about/research) fix the issue permanently, here’s your workaround for the situation where you are trying to launch your Windows Vista VPN connection (PPTP, etc.) by choosing ‘Connect to a network’.

Here’s what it looks like when it happens

Lame, I know. And although there is probably something sinister happening underneath, it turns out you can just ignore it (it would be resolved in a reboot, etc. but I’m far too impatient). Instead, do the following…