Resolved Ethernet Connection can't get IP address

I am running WinXPPRo SP3 on a Dell Latitude D830. It has an on-board NIC which will not pull an IP address. I have uninstalled, downloaded new drivers from Dell and still get an IP address of 169.254.96.252 which of course displays as Limited or No Connectivity and will not connect to Internet. I have a second Dell laptop which connects without a problem using the same cable modem and switch.

I have uninstalled the onboard NIC and driver and installed a PCMCIA NIC and get same result when I try to connect.

I have disabled the McAfee firewall but that did not resolve the issue.

All network connection options have been checked and match those on the working laptop.

The wireless connection works okay.

Dell tech support proposed reinstalling the OS but I am reluctant to do that becaue of the time required to reload software...

Any suggestions for resolving this would be appreciated.

 

Your MacAffee may be blocking it, as it recognizes your cable modem as an unknown network (default setting). When this happens, you won't be able to get an IP. All you need to do is okay it if this is the case.

 

Thanks Mark, but I disabled the McAfee firewall and that did not resolve the issue. Bill

 

Is the DHCP client running?
If it is and you have the same result, have you tried assigning a static address?

 

Not sure how to determine if DHCP client is running, but I believe it is, since the wireless conection pulls a valid IP address...I looked in Windows Task Manager, but I do not see any process running that is named DHCP...can you tell me how to check to see if the DHCP client is in fact runing?

 

One way would be to go to Start>Run>cmd.
At the prompt type in ipconfig /all.
Among other things, it will show you your ip settings and whether or not DHCP is enabled.

 

The problem has been resolved - and I think the reason had to do with my Linksys router. I replace it with a newer Linksys N router and both laptops now pull an IP address. When only one laptop would pull the IP address, it must have been due to the Netgear switch not being configured to perform the DHCP function and the cable modem (I'm guessing) does not do that either. Now that I have a working DHCP router in the configuration, all is working. Thanks for all the help.

Bill