for some reason my tcp/ip property tab is disabled. where I would set to obtain dhcp or static addresses. however im still connected to the internet. same problem when i boot in safe mode. i'am the only user and set with admin privlages as well. winxp pro service pack 3. with IE ver8. anyone know what to try to correct this issue? thanks

are you sure you are on the right adapter? If it is wireless there may be another program that is used to control the wireless.

No, this is on both wireless and wired nic's! Even doing a system restore to a month ago when i know it worked didn't help. what can i do?? thanks

Maybe Uninstalling the NIC card and reinstalling it will do the trick if you have the driver to reinstall that is. But for the most part XP has a generic driver that will be sufficient in most cases. But it's beginning to sound like a virus since both wireless and hardwired are doing the same thing.

Try resetting the TCP/IP Stack via the netsh command:

start -> run -> cmd
then type in:
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

followed by:
netsh winsock reset catalog

Then restart your computer. See if you can get into the tcp/ip properties then.

those commands didn't help either! I'm racking my brain here. Is there a way to disable the property tabs for a nic. all the "this connection uses the following items:" property tabs are disabled. Anything else to check?? thanks so far.

Another thing I just realized is that the device manager won't show any devices. even if you click show hidden devices. it won't populate it's just blank. wonder if this may have something to do with all my problems. what should i do? I've goggled both of these issues and tried almost everything i could read about . from editing the registry and so on. what's my next approach besides re-loading win xp pro which i don't have a copy of?

See if the Plug and Play (plug and pray) service is set to automatically start and also see if it is running.

Start -> run -> services.msc
Double click on Plug and Play. Set to Automatic and click start if it isn't running already.

If that was turned off or disabled, then you might need to restart your computer for the setting to take effect.

Note, on my XP x64 workstation, I cannot disable or turn off the Plug and Play service.

One further note, if those commands don't work in Regular mode, try in Safe Mode.

Has this machine been used on a domain? Is it possible that group policies have been pushed down, or the local security policy has been changed?

Could UPNP service be my underlying issue? It's the only service that I can't get to start but it's set to automatic. And I think I set the permissions right. When i try to start it i get error 1068 and permissions not set! I read somewhere that i probably need to re-install the tcp/ip adapter under the device manager in order to get the property tab back. I tried running different commands to re-install tcp/ip. But I can't get device manager to show up anything! please help me!!!