loosing local area connection upon reboot in xp

[nicerfarm]

I recently got meciacom cable internet, am using an rca modem, and according to dell have to reload my os...thought I would post my problem here before doing that....everytime I shut my computer down and reboot, I loose my local area connection.it says invalid ip,..then I have to go into local are connection, in tcp/ip assigned an ip(using begining ip number of meciacom and the rest made up numbers), close window, and reopen, and then click, obtain an address automatically and I then have a valid ip and can use internet, mail and everything....I have a brand new dell, and they seem to think that the os is bad?/..anyone have any ideas
Lynette Kirchner

 

[zman]

Invalid IP usually means you ar eduplicating an already assigned IP on the network

What IP are you using ?

What subnet etc

I need details to help