The IP address 169.x.xxx.xx is one that gets assigned if
DHCP fails to get an address for the card. It does sound
like the PC is not talking to the cable modem - two things
I would suggest:

1) get a router like the Linksys BEFSR41 or any of the
others to provide some firewall protection (this also would
allow you to make sure you were able to talk to the router).
A router would also make it easy to connect additional PC's
to the network any time you want.

2) see if you can find another PC to see if it can talk to the
cable modem.

Cable modems etc. do get confused sometimes and turning
both off for a minute or two often will clear that issue (I see
it once or twice a year in my house using comcast).

Also, check out the following links:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308007/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310524/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814986/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314067/en-us

mikey

"Charlene" <Charlene@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:61C83322-75C6-4104-86BA-39F83A95FDC1@microsoft.com...
>
> dixonian60 thanks for your reply. I just have a cable modem. I ran
> ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew. I get a strange IP
169.x.xxx.xx. I
> shutdown the computer and power supply for about 1 min and powered
everything
> back up. The NIC and cable modem are recognized in Device Manager
with no
> errors. The connection does appear in "systray" but not sure if its
red. I
> will verify.
> --
> Charlene
>
>
> "Dixonian69" wrote:
>
> > Cale modem and no router?
> > Start>run>cmd>ipconfig / release
> > then ipconfig /renew
> >
> > or try unplugging power supply for 2 minutes. then plug back in.
> >
> > does your connection icon appear in systray (lower rt, botttm)?
> > is it Red?
> >
> >
> > "Charlene" wrote:
> >
> > > Having trouble connecting to the internet using a cable modem. It
was
> > > working before. Spoke with Cable provider and they had me to do a
loop back
> > > tests to confirm the NIC card was working properly. Loop back
tests came
> > > back with replies. The modem lights show all green with the
exception of the
> > > link light which appears amber. Cable provider suggests I call
computer
> > > hardware company to help solve the problem. Any suggestions.
> > > --
> > > Charlene