Need help with Realtek Ethernet Adapter in Windows XP on HP laptop

[sfeinbe]

I have a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion DM1-4010us entertainment laptop which came with 64 bit Windows 7. The Realtek adapter works fine in 7. I installed 32 bit Windows XP pro sp3 on a second partition to dual boot. I can't get a wired connection through the Realtek adapter in XP even though I installed the proper driver from Realtek (driver version is 5.810.1218.2012). The driver installed without incident.

The following is hardware info:

Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_3387103C&REV_06
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&SUBSYS_3387103C
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&CC_020000
PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8168&CC_0200

Here is a screenshot from a Realtek diagnostic:



I've tried many Realtek driver versions to no avail so I just let it default back to the latest XP drivers 5.810.1218.2012. No, there's no exclamation mark next to the device in Device Manager.

This is the ONLY hardware device that won't work in XP on this laptop, but WILL work when I boot into windows 7. It took me countless hours to find XP drivers for the other devices, but this Realtek NIC took as much troubleshooting time as all the others combined (even with help!) and it still won't work.

I'm at a loss. Got any ideas? There are a number of people interested in the solution to this problem.

One other note: the BIOS setup screens provide almost no settings that can be altered by the user. Password, power, boot order are about all.

Please don't ask for a reason why I want to use Windows XP on this laptop or post derisive comments. If you don't like the fact that I'm attempting to use XP on this laptop, don't stop here to tell me so. Even if it's only by implication.

[phiber]

Did you try resetting the tcp ip stack?

[sfeinbe]

No, because it works just fine with the wireless adapter.