Regarding with networking

Clarifications

On the hardware side

1. the cable is NOT plugged into your computer properly.

2. the cable is NOT plugged into the router or switch properly. Could be in the uplink socket instead of a normal socket.

3. the cable is damaged and not working properly.

4. the cable could be a crossover cable for computer to computer linkage instead of a straight through cable for computer to router use - or the reverse.

5. the router / switch is faulty and not working.

6. the network interface card (NIC) is faulty and not working properly.

Now for the software side

7. the NIC is disabled in the computer. Some give this message when software turned off.

8. the NIC is not configured correctly - not very likely with the message you have.

Have fun.

edit - I bet the problem turns out to be the cable is faulty, two most common being a crossover when a straight needed (or the reverse) and a socket not connected correctly on one end - very common with hand made ones.

Windows XP says your network adapter is unplugged
If Microsoft Windows XP indicates that your network adapter is unplugged, it could be because of several different problems. Follow these steps to troubleshoot the problem. (You can stop following the steps if your network connection starts to work.)

1.
Verify that both ends of the network cable are properly connected, as described in Set up a wired network.

2.
If the cable is properly connected, verify that your modem and router are plugged in and turned on.

3.
If you have more than one network port available in your router, plug the cable into a different port. If the network connection works, the original port on your router is faulty. However, you can continue to use the other ports.

4.
Replace the network cable with a new cable. You might have a faulty network cable.

5.
The network adapter on your computer might have failed. If possible, connect a different computer to the same network cable. If the connection works, the problem is with your network adapter. Contact your computer manufacturer for support, or install a new network adapter. If the new computer also fails to connect and you have already tried a new network cable, your network hardware (the device you connect the network cable to) has failed. Contact technical support for the network hardware, or replace it.

After following these steps, you should have identified the problem as your computer's network adapter, the network cable, or your network equipment, and then either replaced or repaired the failed device.

Check that the PC's network card is OK.

Click Start, Run and type cmd and press Enter.

At the prompt type ping 127.0.0.1 and press Enter.

You should get a display like this do you.

C:\>ping 127.0.0.1

Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

If that doesn't work replace your Network Card.

Troubleshooting network connection problems

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/maintain/troubleshoot.mspx#2

Thank you