When I try to renew my network adapter, I get the following message: "An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket." What in the world does this mean? I can get an auto-configured ip address, but my subnetmask is set to 255.255.0.0, bummer. . . and it shows no default gateway. I have my DNS servers set properly for my isp (zoomtown) but no internet access. If I try pinging my system's auto-config ip addres from another computer, I get 4 timed out messages, 100% loss. Which is exactly where I am, at a loss. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you. Chuck

It sounds to me like whoever you get your DHCP assignment from needs to set up their server. You should be getting IP address, DNS address and subnet mask from the DHCP server. I suggest calling your ISP and talking to them about this issue since they're most likely the people who will be able to help you resolve it.

Yeah I agree but I have a question for you? Have you tried to hook up another device to the cable modem or gateway, whether it be a router, switch, or just another computer? The reason why I ask this is because sometimes the network routers can hold "stale" tables and actually have the ip address still bound to the previous mac address (translation: your isp thinks it already assigned your ip to your computer). Try unplugging the cable modem or gateway and ask your ISP to send a new config file to the device, and see if that works. Peace.

ok, I'm experiencing the same issue. To give you an idea of my network setup I have the cable modem connected to a small mini hub. In the minu hub I then have my primary computer a cable/dsl router. My primary computer running windows XP, is the one experiencing the above issue, so I tried to take it off the mini hub and make a direct connect to my router (the router acts as a dhcp server for the rest of my network). Same issue. Now I've decided to swap out network cards. again same issue. after a little research, I found that a "netsh ip reset (logfile.txt)" will rebuild the tcp/ip stack for windows xp since you cannot uninstall tcp/ip in xp. still no such luck. after a little more research, many have had this issue with firewalls such as mcaffee and zonealarm. this is my only conclusion, that a personal firewall is the culprit of the above issue. so after having said all that, I'm still looking for an answer myself...

This is not an issue strictly associated with Mcaffee firewall as Microsoft states. It is actually a problem with corruption in the registry. You can find instructions on how to fix this issue on Windows 2000 but not XP. It is in actuality an issue with the IP protocol. I just wish I knew which registry keys I need to replace...