Connection stays stuck at "Acquiring network address" status

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (More info?)

I connect to the internet via cable, I plug in my Motorolla-SB4200 Surfboard
modem in my computer either with a USB cable or connect to my network adapter.
No matter which way I connect, I get this problem:
At the bottom-right tray, the icon of the connection has moving yellow
arrows over it. The status is said to be "Acquiring network address", invalid
IP (0.0.0.0) and such. I can't access the internet in ANY way...
I tried enabling/disabling Windows Firewall, repairing broken sockets, all
to no avail. The connection seemed to be working okay when I changed the
protocol in "Properties" from Internet Connection (TCP/IP) to Microsoft
Internet Connectoin version 6 (or a similar name), it got the connected
status. However, to access the net I still need to connect to a VPN network
of my ISP, that didnt work however.
I have a firewall, but I do not have a router, or anything similiar that I
didn't state. The problem seemed to pop out after I uninstalled Norton
Antivirus 2005, that didn't go okay and I had to un-install manually from the
Symanetc site. After that I reinstalled NAV, then used once again the
auto-uninstall function, which luckily worked that time.
At that point, the problem still existed (I installed Norton Internet
Security since then).
The internet works perfectly on my second computer, which is where I am
writing this from.
What can I do in order to fix my connection?
Thanks in advance to all repliers.