Hi. I dual boot XP and VISTA on a Del E520, 3.06ghz cpu and 2.5gb ram. I am connected to Verizon DSL using a Westell 6100 modem to connect to a Intel 82562v integrate card. This has the latest drivers (9.8.20.0) i know of. The problem is that if i lose my connection, which sometimes happens after Windows gets done downloading an update, then i get the "limited or no connectivity" notice, and in which case it is the latter. Turning off the modem and restarting it will not work (same error), and even if i restart the modem when i have a good connection then it results in no connection. If i reboot the PC all is FINE, and under Vista this never happens. I have been on the phone with Verizon in India, and reset the modem, then typed in the IP address etc. on the browser, but that did not work, and doing a command prompt ipconfig showed i had no connection.

I then installed the Winsock fix that has worked for others, but if i turn off the modem and turn it on the same thing happens

As Vista does not have this problem, i surmise it is an issue that is EITHER peculiar to my PC or with XP which Vista fixed.

I choose Diagnose Problems in IE, and it tried to reset the IP address and fix things, and below is the text of it:

Last diagnostic run time: 12/24/08 20:22:07 IP Configuration Diagnostic
Invalid IP address

info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.11.112
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.18.126
action Automated repair: Reset network connection
action Disabling the network adapter
action Enabling the network adapter
info Network adapter successfully enabled
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.44.216
action Manual repair: Reboot modem
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.44.216
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.118.151
info Waiting some time for the modem/router to stabilize
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.231.49
info Waiting some time for the modem/router to stabilize
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.63.109
info Waiting some time for the modem/router to stabilize
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.82.130
info Waiting some time for the modem/router to stabilize
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.185.55
info Waiting some time for the modem/router to stabilize
action Automated repair: Renew IP address
action Releasing the current IP address...
action Successfully released the current IP address
action Renewing the IP address...
error Error renewing the IP address: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.
info AutoNet address detected: 169.254.182.179
info Redirecting user to support call

Wireless Diagnostic
Wireless - Service disabled

Wireless - User SSID

Wireless - First time setup

Wireless - Radio off

Wireless - Out of range

Wireless - HARDWARE issue

Wireless - Novice user

Wireless - Ad-hoc network

Wireless - Less preferred

Wireless - 802.1x enabled

Wireless - Configuration mismatch

Wireless - Low SNR

WinSock Diagnostic
WinSock status

info All base service provider entries are present in the Winsock catalog.
info The Winsock Service provider chains are valid.
info Provider entry MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP] passed the loopback communication test.
info Provider entry MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP] passed the loopback communication test.
error Provider entry RSVP UDP Service Provider could not perform simple loopback communication. Error 10091.
error Provider entry RSVP TCP Service Provider could not perform simple loopback communication. Error 10091.
error A connectivity problem exists with a base winsock provider.

Network Adapter Diagnostic
Network location detection

info Using home Internet connection
Network adapter identification

info Network connection: Name=Local Area Connection, Device=Intel(R) 82562V 10/100 Network Connection, MediaType=LAN, SubMediaType=LAN
info Ethernet connection selected
Network adapter status

info Network connection status: Connected

HTTP, HTTPS, FTP Diagnostic
HTTP, HTTPS, FTP connectivity

warn HTTP: Error 12007 connecting to www.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTPS: Error 12007 connecting to www.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn FTP (Passive): Error 12007 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTP: Error 12007 connecting to www.hotmail.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn HTTPS: Error 12007 connecting to www.passport.net: The server name or address could not be resolved
warn FTP (Active): Error 12007 connecting to ftp.microsoft.com: The server name or address could not be resolved
error Could not make an HTTP connection.
error Could not make an HTTPS connection.
error Could not make an FTP connection.

Any helpful advice is welcome, thanks.
Sounds like your tcp/ip protocol is corrupted. There are only a few reasons why you would get limited or no connectivity (bad cable, modem/router is off & a few others) and since you don't get this error with vista it leads me to believe there's corruption. As you can see from your logs when it tries to renew the address it gives you an ip starting with 169. That number tells you that your pc is having trouble acquiring a "good" ip, which for you probably starts with 192. There are 3 things you can do. I don't know your level of expertise but I'm not going to spell out each thing so if you need further guidance just ask:

1 - set a static ip address that way you won't have to worry about losing the ip
2 - remove & reinstall the tcp/ip protocol (you will probably need your windows cd)
3 - follow the following links to fix your protocol:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=299357

resetting winsockWell, after trying the below to no avail (though it would freeze up when applying a new static ip) i used a 3com 3C905b card i had from an old pc and now the problem is fixed! Praise the Lord