Fredagar

The nic setting's were the culprit. Because I had set it up manually the dns options had to be set manually as well. When I set it up originally I didn't notice that. Thanks for your help.

The ip's are as follows: box a xp pro, 192.168.1.100; box b xp pro, 192.168.1.101; box c 2k3, 192.168.1.102; router, 198.168.1.1, all nic's are set up manually to keep their respective ip's, so, say if the power goes out, when they boot again, they won't be assigned a different ip by dhcp. As for the 2k3 box, it is set up with only a file server atm, as I said in my first post, new to servers and was unsure of what else to set up. I know I still have to do some configuring to do and have to install a couple more nic's. Leaving the machine on all the time is not an issue (all 3 run 24/7 now). I am not quite sure of the servers/services to have running, dhcp if all the nic's are manually set? Nat for the firewall? Print server (all have their own printers) but to print to any of the others, or is sharing them good enough? I hope this info helps you help me.

Ok, here it goes. I have searched this forum (and a few others) and have physically read every relevent post (many hours and sore eyes) looking for a solution to my problem. I have 3 computers networked through the house, all hardwired with cat5e, 2 xp pro, 1 2k3 server (server is just a workstation atm). All 3 units are connected to a 4 port router which is connected to cable modem. I can connect from all stations to all stations, I can connect to the internet from both xp boxes, but not from the 2k3 server box. My goal is to get rid of the router all together and use the 2k3 box as server/firewall. Needless to say that if I can't get it to connect to the internet, the setup will not work. I have tried different cables, ports, nic's on the server box to no avail. The router firmware is the latest, and is set up correctly, so I can only assume that it is an issue with 2k3 svr. I just don't know where to look or what exactly to look for (new to server software). Btw, before the 2k3 install, the box had xp pro and connected fine. Any help with this issue would be greatly appreciated.