Please help - No internet, no network

Any help greatly appreciated...

The problem: I can't use the internet or get network access. I've done everything I can think of including reinstalling the network card, and trying a different unused network card that was already in the system. System says both cards are "working properly."

Some background:
It all started with a frozen screen. On reboot "Hard Drive not Found" The HD had run through a controller card and when I connected it directly to the motherboard it found the hard drive but found vgaoem.fon was missing... copied the file from the cd, now windows booted. Neither the internet nor the optical drives were operating. Repaired the windows installation and the optical drives were back on track. But still cant fix the network connection.

System:
Windows XP Home, 3com and intel network cards,
Linksys wired router

Thanks,
Mike