Internet will not work with Ethernet Cable

Hey Guys,
Another friend of mine is having almost the same problem as I posted in this thread:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=242901
BUT, I know for a fact the the Ethernet cable works she plugged it into her laptop and it connected.
There was a storm the other day and when they returned home their computer was off. (Not sure if this has anything to do with this problem or not.)

 

The storm may well of taken out her rj45 port (ethernet) on her machine, i would look for a replacement port like this one... http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...=X&ei=ydBSTrrfFeqi4gSb87XzBw&ved=0CJkBEPMCMAE

cheap easy replacement.

 

You might also boot from a Linux CD just to see if it connects which would tell you if it is indeed HW rather than a problem with Windows.

Does the port/board light up with the cable connected?

 

I would check to see if the network card has an ip address.
enter "ipconfig" from a command prompt.

You could also try pinging the network card if it fails the network card may have a problem.
enter "ping 127.0.0.1" from a command prompt

You could try a usb to ethernet adapter to determine if the network card has been damaged.

 

Thanks guys,
Haven't had contact with my friend so I don't know when/if I can post back