Problem with DHCP and 'Automatic Private Address'

-----Original Message-----
Hi. I'm using XP Pro, and I've been having trouble
connecting a desktop
computer's ethernet card to a router. When I disconnect
the cable from the
computer and plug it into a laptop (running XP Home),
everything works
fine, so as far as I can tell, all of the hardware works
properly.
Therefore, I believe that the problem lies within
Windows. Here's what
happens with the desktop:

I plug the cable into the ethernet card, and click
on "Local Area
Connection Status." Its status is "Connected," and
packets have been sent
and received. Clicking on the "Support" tab shows me
that the IP address
is 169.254.xx.x, when in fact it SHOULD be 192.168.x.xx.
Also, the
"Address Type" is "Automatic Private Address," whereas it
should say
"Assigned by DHCP." I've tried manually setting the IP,
Subnet, Gateway,
etc. and that allows me to PING the router, but I still
can't get through
to the internet or to any other computes on the network.

I've read that this thing with "Automatic Private
Address" is a "symptom of
the problem, but not the problem." However, I've been
unable to solve or
even identify the problem. I've tried uninstalling and
reinstalling the
NIC, and I've tried a second NIC as well, neither of
which fixed anything.
I've also tried resetting the router, to no avail.

What can I do to get this thing working? Thanks for any
help, and please
let me know if I could include any further information
about what's
happening.

--Geoff
.
Right click on the local area connection - select
automatic ip. If not try and get connected without the
router, if that works. Call router manufacturer, if not
call isp.