Can't change IP address in ME

[FreeFreak]

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 , but the problem persists.

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

Any ideas? Please help...
Thanks.

[FreeFreak]

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.

[D@ve]

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.

[FreeFreak]

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.