How To Manually Configure your IP address?

For the Vista Machine

To configure a static IP address on your Windows Vista computer:

Click Start and click Control Panel.
Select Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Center, and click Manage network connections from the list of tasks.
Right click your local area connection and click Properties.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) from the list and click the Properties button.
Select Use the following IP address.
Enter in the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway information provided to you.
Enter in the IP address of the DNS servers your computer will use.
Click OK.

Click Start and click Control Panel.
Select Network Connections
Right click your local area connection and click Properties.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) from the list and click the Properties button.
Select Use the following IP address.
Enter in the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway information provided to you.
Enter in the IP address of the DNS servers your computer will use.
Click OK.

Sorry the second one is for XP

Thanks for the info but I am a little confused as to which to change....I have all the info to manually put in but I am not sure whether to change the last 2 digits of the ip address or whether to change the whole ip address number...And should I just change it on 1 of the computers or should I manually change the both computer systems...Please let me know thanks...Below is a pic of what command prompt looks like on ipconfig /all......
ipconfigall.bmp

Yes you would change the last two numbers of the IP address. Also, if  you are going to put a static IP address I would turn off the DHCP in your router. 192.168.10.xx

I assume you're using a router to do the DSL sharing for you? It would be a better idea to check this routers configuration for improper options. If the problem appears after a few days I think that the DHCP lease time is set to this time on the router and after the leases expire, the DHCP server on the router doesn't handle lease renewals properly.

Another way to set the IP address (which works for Vista and XP) is to use `netsh`.
The only thing you need to know for this is the network address range you're currently working in (issue `ipconfig /all` to get the necessary information, write down IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and dns servers and the name of the network connection, f.ex. "Local Area Connection"):

Click Start -> Run and enter "cmd", press Enter (the black command line box will appear).
Now enter the following command:

netsh i i set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.254 1
netsh i i set dns name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.1.254

The first command will set a static IP address for your network connection named "Local Area Connection" to 192.168.1.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The default gateway has been set to 192.168.1.254 and the 1 at the end is the metric (just leave this value at 1, will work for you).

The second command assigns a static DNS server for "Local Area Connection" and sets the IP address of the DNS server to 192.168.1.254.

I didn't see the ipconfig output when writing my message.
On the PC where you got the ipconfig output from, enter the following command in "cmd":

netsh i i set address name="Local Area Connection 2" static 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.1 1

On the second PC, use the next free address (192.168.10.3) like this (you only need to verify the name of the network connection):

netsh i i set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.0 192.168.10.1 1

For both PCs, set the same DNS server:

netsh i i set dns name="Local Area Connection 2" static 208.67.222.222

Well thanks dariusg for the lead.What I did is I looked at the config in cmd and I manually put in the same information except for the 2 last digits of the ip address on only 1 computer and i hit ok and  in about a couple seconds the other comp eventually connected and the 2 comps are running internet connection now...I didn't restart to check if I would still get conflicts but its working great now......Aggriesser I find your explanation a bit technical but if I restart and I still get conflicts I would carefully try to follow your steps and see if it is helpful but all in all thanks again guys for your expertise......I would accept as solution in a couple hours if I don't see any conflicts...thanks again

As dariusg already suggested, you should turn off the DHCP service on your router if you configured one PC to have a static IP address (especially if you assigned the .2 to the PC with the fixed address).

The router assigns IP address in your IP range dynamically and starts by .2 as it seems (.1 is the router itself), so the first device asking for an IP address will get .2, the second one .3, etc.

If you don't know the DHCP range of your router it's safe to set the manually set IP address to something really high, like .252 f.ex., so you'll probably never hit the "duplicate IP address" issue again.

Well the thing is the isp I am using they use wireless technologies.The router is built on to the wireless antenna on the roofing of my house..So I just usually connect the Ethernet cable that comes in from the antenna outside and plug it into the                                                                                                                                    port at the back of my computer.So there is like no way i can adjust the router settings and i won't be able to ask my isp how to configure that either...So is there any other way I can turn off the dhcp service without accessing the router config?if not well it seems like i may be out of luck...but agriesser please gimme a little bit more detail on setting the ip address that high seeing that i may not know the dhcp range of the router...i really don't wanna hit that duplicate ip address issue again....

If you plug the computer directly to the router like you have been you should be able to go to the Internet Explorer then type the default gateway in the address bar to access the router's configuration. Once in the router's config you can disable the DHCP. Usually routers start of at 100 but it seems that yours starts of very low.

Try going to internet explorer and typing http://192.168.10.1
It will probably ask for a username and password.
Try User: Admin pass: admin or just a blank password.
Then go to DHCP and see if there is a list of computer that are using DHCP.
Try finding yours and clicking on it and setting it as STATIC Entry.
That will reserve that IP address to your computer only.

agriesser you won't believe what your last explanation did for me there..After months of a lot of research trying to understand how dhcp works and how ip addresses are provided your extremely simple explanation put all my worries to rest.I think you anticipated that I needed this information to better understand what i need to do...u are truly an expert!...I think i would write down that explanation and regularly revise it like homework..........yes tarcis now this is what i call hitting the nail on the head...this is why i love experts-exchange...the steps u gave me to go into the router settings are the real deal but the only thing when I try to login i get an unauthorized user access error page.......so i still can't access the configuration...ah well are there any more workarounds? one little concern I have though..do I need to disable the dhcp in order to use the manual ip addresses?If in case i am not able to configure the router settings to disable the dhcp could I still get the manual ip addresses to stay even if i restart the computer?

router-config.jpg

The manual settings will stay in your system no matter if you restart or not. If you can't find out what the DHCP settings are then I would go with the highest numbers which would be 252 and 251. 192.168.10.251 and 192.168.10.252. Try to see if this is the username and password. Also try "do default" and "root" for the password. If all else fails call the ISP and ask for the DHCP lease range and\or the username and password.

Default admin username: root  
Default admin password: leave blank

Well i tried the password combination and that didn't work...And my isp is kinda backward they don't wanna give me the password information or the dhcp lease they are telling me they would send their repair crew for any problems I have.And it seems like the teller is in-capable of giving me that information anyway.But I personally would of liked to do the configurations myself just to learn and get the experience...But so far I have configured 2 comps with manual ip addresses.I am running 3 computers now and so far I haven't seen the ip conflicts errors.....So I think I would run it for 1week and see how it works if i don't get any problems then I would accept as solution and close of this topic.I think you guys have done your best to help..I really appreciate it..But some more login combinations would be welcomed also.......

The username and password is the default one the comes with the Canopy you have. Another work around to bypass the Canopy is to buy a router for aroung $60 then you can configure your own with your own DHCP scope.

Could you please elaborate a bit more on that work around?What type of router should i get and what will i be connecting it to?Please give me some more information and links I am up to this...i really don't mind purchasing another router,please recommend....

You can buy a simple Linksys router. You can hookup the network cable from the ISP router to the Linksys router which will allow you to use the Linksys router for DHCP. Also, if you want to have a wireless computer or laptop you can buy a Linksys Wireless router. The link below will show you the wireless router which is also a regular wired router. This will allow you to have up to four computers networked together for internet access and file sharing.  On top of the 4 wired computers you can have wireless computers hooked up also to the same network for the same capabilities as the wired ones.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1030266&CatId=373

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/522432/WRT54GS-Broadband-Router-With-SpeedBooster/

thanks for that detailed explanation bro it really helped me.

Ok well thanks a lot boys for your comments and solutions i have really benefited and learned a lot..I think my problem is resolved.But I will be switching to a dsl provider very soon because this present wireless isp i am with connection is very slow and they are a lot more expensive than the other isp and i experience a lot of dropped signals all the time....So when i switch to that dsl connection i would purchase a wireless router to network all my friends computer together..I am sure that way would minimize any ip conflicts i would experience...thanks again for your help.