network address wrong?

hello all,

i just purchased a used Inspiron 8000 laptop, here are the stats

win xp sp2,

20 gig hd

384 megs pc100

dvd drive

cdrw drive

no floppy

My problem is that i have a small network at home with 2 desktops using win 2000 sp4

on a broadband connection via a netgear router,

standard setup on 192.168.0.xxx

the problem i am having is 1. laptop didnt come w/ a nic...... fixed that got a pcmcia type 2 card,

plugged it in and windows recognized it and loaded the drivers etc....

plugged in the cat 5 and .... nothing..... cant see the network no internet etc....

diabled the firewall no change.....  it seems the ip is 169.1xx.xxx.xxx   not what the router is set to give out...

i have configured the IE to auto. get ip address, but it doesnt do it,

the only way i can even see the network is to manually set the ip, dns, etc..... then i can see my network, but still cannot get to the internet.

ran the xp network troubleshooter, and it tells me i have a good nic using ip 169.xxx.xxx..xx

but also a firewire lan connection...???

how/what do i need to do to get the pcmcia nic to recognize the network and get a good ip, and also to reach the internet.,.... the laptop shipped in july of 2001, and im willing to believe there has been nothing done to it since, ie updates, etc. looks like all it was used for was games.

thanks in advance.

chris