Networking help please

Hi, could someone give me some networking advice please.

I have a D-Link 916Dx switch and want to connect two computers to it.  Both use XP Home. The computer I am on now works fine and is "Assigned by DHCP", IP 82.42.x.x.

When I try to connect the other computer with the same settings it says "Automatic Private Address" and an IP of 169.254.x.x.  Its not possible to connect anything on that PC.  Worth noting perhaps is that in the status packets are sent but not received.  The ethernet card seems fine as I have replaced it once already. Any idea whats going on?  I thought using a switch i wouldn't have this kind of trouble with IP's as the switch treats anything connected as individual connections. Btw, I've swapped cards over, swapped cables etc so the cables and cards are ok.

Thanks in advance.

Well with those IPs your computers are on different subnets, so no wonder they can't talk. Without knowing what the cause of the problem is, the simplest solution would be to disable DHCP and manually set both computers to IPs of 192.168.0.x

OKies thats a start. What should I put for the gateways, masks etc or should I leave them blank? thanks!

So I just changed the IP manually on this PC (the one that was working) to 192.168.0.1 and although the IP is valid etc etc I can't connect to anything. This is driving me nuts.

OK ignore my previous advice, I was assuming your switch was acting as a router.

The gateway is the computer that connects to the internet. It should have two network devices, one for connecting to the internet and one for connecting to your network. Set the internet device to DHCP so that your ISP can assign you an IP. Set the network card to 192.168.0.1, netmask 255.255.255.0. On your other machine set the IP to 192.168.0.2, netmask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.1. Remember to enable internet connection sharing on the gateway.

Thanks but doesn't that defeat the purpose of the switch? You see, I thought i could put the internet connection into the switch and then have the 2 pc's running off it so that one pc didn't have to be on all the time and the two pc's could connect indepandantly of each other

I've totally got mixed up haven't I. do i need a router + switch for that? argh :'(

What kind of internet connection is it?

I use DSL and to have a connection without having to use a computer as a gateway I need a DSL router connected to the switch.

Its a broadband/cable connection.  I originally had the 2nd pc connected just by ethernet controllers and Xover cable but my friend gave me a rather expensive switch he didn't need and I thought it was as simple as just plugging the cable connection from the modem.  Perhaps the lack of router explains why only one PC can connect?

I once tried plugging a cable modem into a switch, didn't have much luck. Yeah I believe you require a router to act as a gateway.

Doh! Ah well, I'll set the straight network up until i get it sorted. thanks for the help anyway. Blessed be.