kids win me pc gets 169 address!!

hi everyone this is the first time i've posted to major geeks so please bare with me. the kids pc downstairs is hooked up using a 802.11g wireless lan mini usb adapter which then connects to a wireless-g adsl router upstairs.
the kids pc is win me. the installed software (zydas ieee 802.11g) works fine and the correct lights are lit on both the adapter and the router. however the pc won't connect to the internet. ie just keeps flickering as if trying to connect but it can't and eventually gives up. the router is dhcp enabled.
i don't get why they are connected but the pc can't use the internet. i have tesco broadband adsl the pc doesn't have a firewall..not that i'm aware of. it did have some security software on ther but i got rid cause the kids mess it up all the time! can't do step 2 like that...this is win me. the network icon in control panel gives me network settings. one is tcp/ip zydas usb. the other tcp/ip is for the other onboard network adaptor which i have now disabled just incase but it's made no difference.

 

if i type winipcfg in command prompt i get this:

ip address 169.254.126.207
subnet mask 255.255.0.0
no default gateway

not sure but isn't the 169 address assigned by windows when the dhcp server isn't working?
in the ip configuration window the release button does nothing. the renew button brings up the sand timer for
about 2 mins then comes up with this error :- dhcp server unavailable.
if you press ok nothing happens. the release all button does nothing and the renew all button brings up the
same error message as the renew button with the same outcome.....nothing.
i am pretty sure the router is set correctly as i have a pc upstairs that is hooked up to the router through
a network cable. this works fine and is assigned the correct ip address and default gateway etc.

 

i have tried the wireless adapter on this pc (which is xp by the way and probably explains why there are no
problems!!) and it works fine with no configuration at all.
i tried to mess with the tcp/ip settings for the usb adapter and told it to use the correct default gateway
that the router uses which is :- 10.0.0.2 but that made no difference.
there are lots of other settings under tcp/ip like g-mode or something.not touching that.....pc might blow up.
this is as much info as i can sort out at the mo
please get back to me if you have any ideas or things i can try.

cheers

dirt

 

after what you have suggested i get on the upstairs cable connected pc:
windows ip configuration
host name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : upstairs
primary dns suffix . . . . . . . . . . . :
node type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :unknown
ip routing enabled . . . . . . . . . . . :no
wins proxy enabled . . . . . . . . . . :no
ethernet adapter local area connection:
connection-specific dns suffix . :
description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :sis190 100/10 ethernet device
physical address . . . . . . . . . . :00-13-8f-1b-a4-32
dhcp enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . :yes
autoconfiguration enabled . . . . :yes
ip address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :10.0.0.3
subnet mask . . . . . . . . . . . . :255.0.0.0
default gateway . . . . . . . . . . :10.0.0.2
dhcp server . . . . . . . . . . . . . :10.0.0.2
dns servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . :10.0.0.2
lease obtained . . . . . . . . . . . :01 september 2006 18:03:08
lease expires . . . . . . . . . . . . :02 september 2006 18:03:08

 

this is from the kids wireless pc downstairs
windows ip configuration
host name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : kids
dns servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :
node type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : broadcast
netbios scope id . . . . . . . . . . . :
ip routing enabled . . . . . . . . . . : no
wins proxy enabled . . . . . . . . . . :no
netbios resolution uses dns . . . . . :no

ethernet adapter:

description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : zydas zd1211 802.11b+g wireless lan
physical address . . . . . . . . . . :00-0e-2e-44-a1
dhcp enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . :yes
ip address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :169.254.126.207
subnet mask . . . . . . . . . . . . :255.255.0.0
default gateway . . . . . . . . . . :
dhcp server . . . . . . . . . . . . . :255.255.255.255
primary wins server . . . . . . . . :
secondary wins server . . . . . . :
lease obtained . . . . . . . . . . . : 09 02 06 00:30:35
lease expires . . . . . . . . . . . . :

 

was afraid you'd ask me to do something physical.......lol.

i have had the kids pc working for months but it was very finnicky.
the adapter came with the usb drivers and they are installed.
when the pc worked before it was a flook to be honest with you
so i never really figured it out. i had 98 se installed first but the wireless was a no go. it was suggested to me to put win me on the machine as it had better networking functionality than 98. as i said it did work but not in a traditional way.
the pc is now set up the way it's meant to be with the usb drivers and zydas utility installed and working but i am back to square one with with signal, the right lights etc but no actual connection cause of the non allocated ip address.
i have, in the past whilst testing, set up the pc's the other way around and the kids pc connects no problem. this is a final alternative but i am aching to find the solution to this problem. should win me have something downloaded to it to force wireless?

cheers

dirt

 

ok i've solved the problem
i removed all protocols listed in network settings leaving only these:
client for microsoft networks
file and print sharing for microsoft networks
tcp/ip
zd1211 ieee 802.11 b+g usb
(this is for the usb wireless network adapter and existed before but was tcp/ip zd1211 ieee etc)

 

the other step i took were to check the properties for the usb adapter. in the properties window under the configuration tab there were properties on the left, with a big list, and the values of those properties on the right giving you the option to disable, enable etc. one of those properties was USE G MODE IN USB 1.1 which was disabled by default. the network adapter is for both b+g (whatever that is) so the g in it along with the usb made me want to change that setting...just made sense.......i think.
ruddy thing only worked you know!!!!!!
i went back and undid my steps to confirm that this was the right thing then redid everything again and BINGO!!!!! i have a large grin on my face and the kids are back on the net and off my back.

thanks for your help tim w

hope this can help someone out of the same problem

cheers all

dirt