Recently my dad got a new computer, and he's giving me the old one. He told me to reformat, and after doing so, I discovered it wouldn't connect to the Internet!

I've tried several fixes, but none of them have worked. I believe that the Computer is at at fault, not the modem or network adapter. When I plug the ethernet cable into the other computer it works fine (I'm using it to post this).

Apparently my dad had a problem like this before, and solved it without the Internet (since we only had the one computer), so I know I don't need to download drivers.

I assigned a static IP address but it didn't work; also can anyone tell me how to configure the DHCP scope?

Do you guys have any suggestions what to do?
I'm technically savvy, but I haven't worked with networking really, so step by step would be appreciated.

Firstly, how are you connecting to the Internet? DSL? Cable? Dial-up? Are you connecting to a router as well? More information would help a lot. What happens if you set the NIC to use DHCP?

Life is more painless for those who are brainless.

Open command prompt (cmd.exe), and type ipconfig /all to show your network setting, ensure you have correct IP, netmask, gateway and DNS set. You can compare the output with other working computer and check any misconfiguration.

Using Ping to Troubleshoot Network Problem

Thank you both for helping me out.

@Jennifer SUMN
I'm connecting to the Internet directly through a cable modem, no router. I set the network adapter to use DHCP; is there a distinction between that and an NIC?

@Picohat
On the working computer, it's running Vista, and when I ipconfig, there is a lot more stuff than just on the Xp comp. I can't compare the two since the working has IPv6 and IPv4 addresses, and tunnel adapters.

However, the non working one hasn't got DNS servers, and can't access the DHCP since it has a 169.254.x.x. Also it doesn't have a default gateway.

I'm going to poke around your homepage a bit for help.

A 169 address indicates the DHCP server doesn't "See" the NIC. You may have to install special software from the Cable company to get this MAC address recognized.

Life's more painless for the brainless.

Go to the Command prompt and type in

netsh winsock reset

That should clear up any corrupted networking files.

I agree with what Jennifer said, some broadband service registration/access will only work by using computer network card’s MAC address. That means the ISP will authenticate your network card’s MAC address whenever you use the connection service.

Check with the Internet service provider to see any such requirement..