Windows XP Pro freezes when acquiring network address

[nato245]

A few seconds after I connect the network cable, windows freezes... I
am clueless, because I have tried many drivers for the network card,

Here's what I've got in my PC:
Windows XP Pro
Network adapter built into P4P800-X Motherboard (http://www.asus.com/
999/html/events/mb/socket478/p4p800-x/overview.htm)
Netgear WGR614 v6 router (http://www.netgear.com/Products/
RoutersandGateways/GWirelessRouters/WGR614.aspx)
Intel Celeron D 2.53GHz processor

and when it freezes, it isnt just proccesses that stop responding, its
the "cant move mouse" kind of freeze.

This hasn't happened before... it started a while after I installed XP
(switched from Ubuntu Linux)

 

[nato245]

and, oh yeah, if it's a driver issue, please can you point me to the
correct driver if possible?

 

[nato245]

please help