I think I am going crazy.

I work for a small business and we are having problems with this network at a country club.

Network consists of:
-a server running Windows server 2003

-5 XP Pro machines that log onto the server and use a proprietary software that uses a mapped drive on the server

-two big 32 port switches (dunno why)

-This god awful Westel DSL modem router gateway

What we are trying to do:

Install a Netgear DSL modem router gateway.

Problem:

Each computer will not get online when the Netgear DSL modem is installed. Unless you release and renew the IP address on each machine. Once this is done, the client machines can't access the mapped drive on the server. We did not perform a release and renew of the IP address on the server. Wouldn't that be the problem?

My boss argues that the router has nothing to do with it and the server is doing DHCP to log into the server not for the Internet? (doesn't make any sense to me). He says the DHCP is being done in the server, so doing a release and renew on the server won't do anything. I say that the DHCP (in some form or another) in the server was turned off, because the old router and the new one have DHCP turned on. Am I going crazy?