Problems with Windows XP network

[Aretè]

Okay so here is the problem and it particulary baffles me because it was literally out of the blue but then again arent all computer problems. Everything last night is running fine, i settle in for the night and get up early to take care of some errands, i get back in around 4:30 get to the comp and see everything is offline. I have no connection, not signed onto MSN or AIM, so i look at router and cable modem to see if something is amiss, i notice light that shows its getting a signal from the router is off so i think no biggie, look at router see the cable is loose. I plug it in snugly, restart both cable modem and router, and start making my rounds to the different rooms of the house making sure all the computers have connection. Sure enough everyone was connection, everyone that is, but me. So im like aight whatever, swtich out the current cable i have connecting me from the comp to the router for a different one. No go, i uninstall and reinstall my onboard lancard. No go. I uninstall and leave uninstalled onboard lan care and install a netgear lan card. Still no go. And the whole time this is going on whenever i do cmd/ipconfig i get no info whatsoever dns is empty default gateway is empty everything is jsut 0.0.0.0. Im pretty lost as to what the problem could be it seems as if something has completely borked over night or something. I dunno any insight to the problem will be greatly appreciated.

Windows XP Sp1 all current updates unless there was some today then of course i cant get them
Asus pc800e deluxe with most up to date bios

[Dyre Straits]

This has happened a few times with our setup here on a home network and shared connection to the Internet. It 'usually' happens after a brief power outtage or power spike.

What has cured it nearly 95% of the time is to REMOVE that computers NIC (Network Adapter) from the Device Manager. You'll likely be prompted to reboot. Do so, but go into Safemode. Once there, remove this device again. (You might even see TWO instances of the same card at some point. This definitely indicates a problem.)

Once you've completely removed the card's drivers from the system, restart it and let Windows reinstall it.

Now, once that's done, if you still cannot get connection, be sure to check the IRQ assignments. It's quite possible that this has been changed and the card may be sharing an IRQ where it won't work well....or at all.

Good luck!