I had tried different ports, i've now tried a different cable, and
i've tried power cycling the desktop, router, and modem, but with no
luck.

IPCONFIG /ALL
on the desktop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MainCPU
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : satx.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : satx.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE
Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-72-CE-D6-A0
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.28.131.113
24.28.131.245
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 05, 2007
10:24:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 06, 2007
10:24:30 PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

on the working laptop:

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MainCPU
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : satx.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : satx.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE
Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-72-CE-D6-A0
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.28.131.113
24.28.131.245
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, March 05, 2007
10:24:30 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 06, 2007
10:24:30 PM