Alright heres the issue. My NIC in the laptop isn't getting an IP from the router. The router isn't broken. When I try to ping something from the command prompt it gives garbage where the address should be. Any clue on whats wrong?

More information might help. I.E. router model, card model, mabye some config information.

-Bob

is your laptop and router both set to use DHCP? And does your router have MAC address filtering enabled?

Alright, a little more info might help. The card is a Realtek RTL8139. I can run the diagnostic and everything works except for when I run the initiator and reponder. I don't know what they do but the responder doesn't work. I got a little curious about what the card could still do and after plugging it into a switch(non-DHCP) it worked fine. Now when I add the switch to the router and try to use the DHCP it doesn't work. I have tested cables and ports. I'm all tapped out of ideas and I figure someone knows how to fix this thing. Oh yeah I should mention that the machine did have DCOM error and had to forceably shutdown right before it stoped working. If anyone knows let me know.

Dan

There is a new virus out that does screwy things to your MAC address thus leading to problems and what not.