Gents.....I have figured out the problem...After at least 6 hours with Dell and Comcast both saying it is one or the other....being able to get online with my laptop that is 6 inches away...knowing full well AH was up and running (Phone call from BR)....WE GOTS US A SOLUTION!!!!!!!!!!
I am not an internet genius or an XP wizard but here is what happened. My Dell Desktop 4400 2.0 Gig...blah blah....somehow had an IP address that was, according to ComCast Cable, "outside of the realm of the internet". Its address ended like this.....
xx.xx.xxx.255
They say that IP addresses cant go above .254
I am not sure....well anyhow I went to the laptop and winipcfg'd it and discovered that it had a different IP address...NOTE: all I am doing is swapping the Cable modem cable between computers. I am letting it power down and clearing the MAC? addresses out of it.
I then typed all the information from the laptop to the desktop under network connections by disconnecting the "gain IP address automatically" and the same dns thing below.
I guess this forced the puter into using those "working" IP addresses. I will however have to go back to the automatic settings once comcast changes the IP/DNS information. They change it every few days to ensure guys arent running static IP addresses...I guess for servers etc...who knows.
Long and short...Im up and running! And now I know about XP and can fix the problem if I need to in the future.
THANKS SO MUCH for the help.
Mike
PS sorry to have been so "Frustrated" online last night on channel one trying to get some help. SKurj sometimes I wish you were next to my machine to fix the sucker...LOL....