Plugged in cable is "unplugged".

[DJRWolf]

Out of the blue my parents Dell started to say the network cable is unplugged even though it is. I have tried different cables and I changed the port on the router to one I know is good from running my own computer off of it. I have also installed a new NIC card and it also says the cable is unplugged. They are running Win XP Home.

 

[hang-the-9]

Several things can cause this, but looks like you already did some trouble-shooting.

Are there link lights on the back of the network card? Is one solid and one blinking or do you just have a solid one? One is for just a good link to the other side, the other one is data transmission.

Try this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357

 

[DJRWolf]

Did some more trouble shooting. Turns out all I had to do was plug the computers cable into a switch and the switch to the router. Have no idea why it has to go through a switch but it works now.

 

[KingArcher]

That indicates it was a auto-negotiation problem.
When you connect a network device, it tries to automatically negotiate the connection speed. When it fails to do that, it shows unplugged.
You could try to set the link speed manually for the network card in Device Manager.

 

[DJRWolf]

Hmmm, well it also effected my dads work laptop in the exact same way. But that is a good idea KingArcher.

 

[DJRWolf]

Best answer selected by DJRWolf.

 

[KingArcher]

DJRWolf, were you able to connect to the network by setting the link speed manually?