Ok, I'm at the end of my rope here.. before you reply with "check out this thread" I have read other threads and tried every damn solution I can find and the only solution I have left is throwing the computer out the window. First off: I have Windows 7 64 bit I'm using some Time Warner issued garbage called "Netgear WCG814WG" It's a router/modem. The internet was running fine.. just fine until yesterday out of nowhere it started doing this. It connects to an unidentified network and just says "Local Area Connection" Doesn't Have A Valid IP Configuration. I will sell my soul at this point to fix the problem. Here's All I Have Tried So Far: I've rebooted the modem (It doesn't have a firewall), I've restarted the computer, disabled/enabled the network adapter, uninstalled/installed the network adapter multiple times, I've tried the /release and /renew commands.. I can't renew it though because it comes up with "Unable to connect to DHCP server" or something like that. I've even gone the desperate route and restored my computer to factory condition... this makes no since.. it was working fine with the modem until out of nowhere. I've also tried looking for the Bonjour service or the ID_string as recommended in other threads.. nope, nothing. Any other solutions would be greatly appreciated.. I'm going to pull my hair out.. this is one whole day it's been doing it.

Some things to try: 1. Check the ethernet cable and make sure it's connected tightly at both ends and that there are no breaks or kinks that might have damaged the wires. 2. Assign a static IP address. Set the default gateway and DNS addresses to your router/modem's address. 3. Check your computer for malware that may be interfering with your network. 4. Call Time Warner - your router/modem has probably bit it.

1) The ethernet cables are fine. There are three computers hooked up to it and it worked until yesterday.. we've had internet here for four years. It has done this before with a different modem and after 3 hours of re-starting and messing with it, it just worked.. no explanation or no cause.. but this is going on one day now and I'm more than frustrated. 2) I just tried setting up a static IP address and it still had the exact same thing. It won't even let me renew the IP address because it'll say "unable to connect to DHCP server". 3) There's no malware on my computer. I had kaspersky prior to restoring the entire system to factory condition. 4) The modem might be old and cheap because that's how Time Warner rolls, but it was working just fine until Yesterday. I contacted Time Warner through their online chat and all they do (all they ever do) was gave me basic steps to try and told me it was probably my "Windows IP Configuration" but the guy didn't know how to fix it and told me to contact Microsoft. However, Windows 7 came pre-loaded on this PC so I looked up numbers to call for Microsoft and without a Key or whatever they'll charge you to talk on the phone to them.

You didn't say in your original post that you had other PCs connected to the router. Do they still work properly? If not, then it's the router. Don't be so quick to dismiss possible malware just because you have an antivirus program. No antivirus that I know of can detect and stop 100% of potential infections. If you set up a static IP you shouldn't still be getting DHCP errors. Static addresses ignore DHCP, and a release/renew with a static address will do nothing because, well, it's static, so there's nothing to release. Check and make sure the DHCP Client service is running. If it's not, try and start it. Have you checked the system log for the reason DHCP is failing?

There's no viruses because I've restored the PC to factory condition twice now. I've wiped all my data just to fix this problem. It's been two days now.. I'm out of things to even try and I'm beyond pissed off. Every thing I've tried thus far: Switching the cables, connecting directly to the modem, turning the modem off for a long period of time, turning the computer off for a long period of time, releasing and renewing the IP, enabling/disabling the adapter, uninstalling the adapter, resetting winsock, power cycling the modem and there's probably other stuff I've tried that I can't think of.. oh yes looking for the Bonjour or ID String what ever in my Services, I've made sure DHCP is running, etc. I've tried to contact Time Warner and they told me it was a Windows IP configuration problem and that's it.. duh.. so I tried to contact Microsoft phone but apparently they'll charge you for it. Emachines support is run by indians I can't understand so that wasn't much help either.

totally, in the same boat. get the "Local Area Connection" Doesn't Have A Valid IP Configuration (when troubleshooting the connection), & ipconfig release works but renew does not. cannot cannot cannot figure it out. please help.

Update: uninstall alfa wireless driver/software (for a 1000mw alfa wireless adapter) - that got me back on instantly - been a whole 2 minutes, but we'll see if it lasts. good luck! (obviously doesn't apply if you don't have it, but maybe try other (outdated? (thus update?)) wireless drivers.)