Can't change IP address in ME

Dell Inspiron 5000e
Intel p3 700/550 (speedstep)
256mb ram
10gig hd
need more?...just ask

I searched and searched, but I couldn't find any previous posts ANYWHERE on the internet about this problem.

I have tcp/ip, a modem, and a nic installed in network properties. In the tcp/ip properties for both the modem and nic, i cannot specify an IP address. I click in the field, but nothing comes up when I type. DHCP works fine, but I need to set my own IP to get on a network at school.

As for the modem...I searched through the dial-up connection properties for one of my connections, and I found a way to change the IP address there, but I need to change the nic's address.

I asked Dell, and they said to restore my system to a previous working copy, but none of the restores worked. Since the computer is fairly new, I went ahead and reformatted :mad: , but the problem persists.

This is the only problem i've had with ME, btw.

Any ideas? Please help... :(
Thanks.

That is exactly where I cannot change the address. I also cannot change the wins server ip, the default gateway ip, or the DNS server ip.

My ME is 4.90.3000 and my nic is a Linksys Etherfast 10/100 PCMCIA card, but i'm pretty sure the problem is with windows since I cannot change my dial-up adapters address either.

If you go to MY COMPUTER, CONTROL PANEL, DIAL UP NETWORKING and right click on your Internet connection. Select properties, click on the networking tab and then click on TCP/IP SETTINGS you can specify the IP address for the modem there.

I know that I can do that, but I really need to change the NIC's address. Thanks for the info! For now I'll just put up with the problem and wait until the bugs are worked out of XP.