Ok, 2 new compaq's. 1)Exact same pc's. 2)Pc 1 obtains an ip from the router fine. 3)Pc 2 will not obtain. If I give it a static ip it will work but I need it to obtain to avoid other headaches. 4)I am using tcp/ip only with netbios over tcp enabled. Whats wrong? Any suggestions?

Are you reciveing a APIPA 169.254.X.X address ?

Amazingly enough, I am on the one that is not working right. Its obtaining a 169.254.x.x with a 255.255.0.0 subnet. It should be pulling a 192.168.1.x with a 255.255.255.0 sub.

"Are you reciveing a APIPA 169.254.X.X address ?" He has to be. Straight From MS: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/networking/autoconfig.asp "If a DHCP server is not reached, Windows XP uses either Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) or the user configured alternate address. To use APIPA, skip step 5 above. When APIPA is used, Windows XP TCP/IP uses an address in the APIPA IP address range (169.254.0.1 through 169.254.255.254) and the subnet mask is set to 255.255.0.0. The range of IP addresses (169.254.0.1 through 169.254.255.254) used for APIPA is reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Any IP addresses within this range are not used on the Internet." And a little dirty solution: http://www.winnetmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=38840 "If you have an IP address in the range 169.254.xxx.xxx, APIPA is active. To disable APIPA for selected interfaces on your system without disabling DHCP, run regedit and modify or add the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\Adapters registry subkey. Set the IPAutoconfigurationEnabled REG_DWORD entry to a hexadecimal value of 0. If your system has more than one network interface, you can disable APIPA on the computer. To disable APIPA for all the NICs, run regedit and go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces registry subkey. Modify or add a REG_DWORD value named IPAutoconfigurationEnabled, and set the value to a hex value of 0. After you modify one of these registry subkeys, you need to reboot your computer for the change to take effect." And for those who like RFC browsing: http://www1.ietf.org/mail-archive/ietf/Current/msg14208.html

Will disabling apipa allow the dhcp to work? It is my understanding that xp only assigns a default ip if it can't find a dhcp server. I know I have a good connection to the router because a static ip works. Are you saying that apipa is interfering with my pc obtaining an ip or windows is jumping the gun assigning me one?

"To disable APIPA for selected interfaces on your system without disabling DHCP..." "...without disabling DHCP..." I'm saying try it and see if it works.

Try to reverse the roles of the 2 pc's. If the one that got 169.254.x.x now gets an IP address and the other doesn't, you need to configure an address pool (scope)in your router to give out more than one address. I'm afraid disabling APIPA won't help you as it only uses APIPA if it can't find the DHCP server/router. Thus, if it can't, and you've disabled APIPA, you'll get 0.0.0.0 for your NIC.