-----Original Message-----
how would i give a PC a permanent IP address that would
not change when the machine is powered down?
You would right click on networking properties and then
choose your network adapter go to it's TCP/IP setting and
then check the option use the following IP :
Enter in the IP address and subnetmask and gateway or
router address
if you are unsure about the gateway and dns setting use
the current config and go to a command prompt by going to
run type cmd
once at the command prompt type ipconfig /all
your ip config will then turn out to be something like
IP 192.168.1.100
subnet 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
dns :192.168.1.1
this is common for home networks but may not represent
your networks configuration. if you find you mess things
up have no fear just remove your entries and choose obtain
ip address automatically and the setting will return to
using DHCP.