Urm what xp network software? Network support is a core part of the os

All that it could be is

Xp running dhcp
Xp with same ip as router
Xp running ics

if the machine has the same IP as another device on the network then XP would show the yellow balloon exclamation mark icon so i would imagine its not that.

DHCP if configured on the XP machine will cause havoc on the PC its running on if router also has DHCP enabled, but i doubt router would be affected it would just be the XP PC with no connection or limited connection.

do check that internet connection sharing is not configured just to rule that out aswell

is the XP PC updated to service pack 3? and completely updated for all other system updates? sounds drastic but have you considered trying a format and reinstall of the full XP OS?

if all else fails maybe there is an old linux distro that could do the job?

Edited by deleted (Tue 21-Jan-14 09:47:43)

A number of times in that past I have suddenly had issues with a network card taking some time to connect on boot. It could be a service hanging when trying to start that is delaying the network card drivers from firing up. Sometimes updating the drivers might fix it otherwise it is a matter of doing troubleshooting to try and find the service that is having issues (windows event viewer may give some clues). Or try disabling individual services.

But, my main recommendation would be to upgrade from XP. XP will have no more security patches after April this year and therefore becomes an increasingly risky OS to run. Personally I would look to upgrade to Win 7 - but the hardware may be too old to support it.