For better or worse, Google gave me this forum as being relevant to my question. I went back about 8 pages in this subforum and didn't find any answer that helped with my problem.
 
Hubby and I incentivized the economy by purchasing the following parts -- and at the time, it seemed like it was going to be a pretty sweet build:
-- AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Dual Core
-- GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
-- ECS N9600GT-512MX-P GeForce 9600GT 512MB 256-bit vid card
-- 2x1g Corsair DDR2 ram
-- 500g Western Digital HD
-- Windows XPx64 -- this actually came with 2 disks, a 32 bit version that repeatedly crashed on install and made me think my HD was DOA for 3 days until a friend ran a diagnostic that said the HD was fine, then he looked at the disks and said "duh, install the x64 disk" and the install went fine.
 
the install the only thing that's really gone fine.
 
I installed the mobo-drivers that came with the Gigabyte board. there was a VGA driver for mobo-video, an ethernet port driver, a southbridge driver, and one other little thing i can't recall atm. these installed fine. (there's also a basic sound driver but i can't install that until i "patch the Microsoft", which I can't do until I get the internet connection working.)  
 
the ethernet port now recognizes when there's no rj45 cable in it, but when i put the cable in, it refuses to get an ip address from the modem. this is the same cable and same modem that i'm using on my current computer, the one I'm posting this from right now. (I "have" a router but it may or may not actually work, and besides, this is the only rj45 cable i have that i know is not damaged. so i keep having to disconnect this comp from the internet and put the cord over there, only to have it not work... it's very frustrating.) The Repair function, when I click it, freezes for a moment before telling me it cannot renew the IP.   : [  
 
I DLed a Sygate install exe, and the drivers for the GeForce 9600GT from the Nvidia website (making sure to get the XP-64-bit one), and put those 2 on a usb thumb drive and attempted to install them. The Sygate install will 'unzip' to a folder on my C drive, but clicking the exe in that folder... does nothing. Nothing starts, no error message is given, nothing. The Nvidia drivers begin to install, and then tells me, "The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit." um... what?
 
This is the sum total of actions that have taken place on this computer. I can't connect to the internet because I can't get an IP. I almost don't want to connect to the internet because Sygate won't run; should I trust the Windows firewall to not be stupid? And why on earth are the drivers specifically made for the vid card I have thinking that the vid card doesn't exist? I'm so confused. I'm not an uber-geek, but I do understand more than a few things... but this is beyond what I know how to do.  
 
It's like getting a new car, turning the key, and the car thinks there's no Drive gear. "I'm sorry, your car is not equipped with the capability to drive fowards." : [  
If anyone knows anything that could possibly help, please, please help me. I'm at my knowledge's end.

Download Gigabyte's drivers for the card and try those.
 
It also sounds like you have a bad .exe file for Sygate, try downloading it again or even a different version.

Check the firewall. Check that the router is setup for DHCP.
Check that the driver is installed in device manager.

Are you using DSL for internet or Cable

--> "Download Gigabyte's drivers for the card and try those."
 
Gigabyte makes drivers for my nvidia card (not the onboard video)?
I found this page -- http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support [...] rce+9600GT -- but there's 4 listed, how do i know which one i need?
 
--> "sounds like you have a bad .exe file for Sygate"
reDLed sygate from http://www.tucows.com/preview/213160 , uninstalled old version (which it make me do) before installing new version... which still refuses to run. will try to hunt down an older version of the install....
 
 
--> "Check the firewall."
there /is/ no firewall right now. I've disabled the windows firewall and the Sygate one refuses to run.
 
--> "Check that the router is setup for DHCP."
I'm not using a /router/ per se. I'm going straight from the comp to the modem. and the modem works fine, which i stated in the original post: "this is the same [rj45] cable and same modem that i'm using on my current computer." I take the cable out of my current comp and put it straight into the new comp... and i get nothing. it works on one comp, it doesn't work on the other. I don't know what to do.
 
--> I'm using cable internet.

Try a PCI ehternet card. It is possible that the onboard ethernet is bad.

Have your tried this driver?
 
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support [...] ileID=2743
 
 

How many yellow exclaimation marks ( ! ) do you have in device manager and for what device'(s) are they for?

You should install XP32 with 2G RAM.  It should have less hardware issues.  What exactly did you buy (retail/OEM/Upgrade, SP2)?

Did you up the DDR2 Voltage?
 
Also download SeaTools DOS and scan for HDD errors.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

-- > evongugg
I installed that driver, no change in occurrences. the port still will not connect. oddly enough, it says it /has/ an ip address (169.something, the numbers are gone now that i put the internet back into this comp), but it still refuses to connect to the internet-as-a-whole.
 
i suppose i could go get another ethernet card : x. am i silly to hope that my brand new motherboard actually works?
 
--> "How many yellow exclamation marks..."
In all the things in my device manager (in which the Geforce card is not listed, is that normal?), the only two yellow ! i have are for two copies of "Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio".
 
--> DXRick
please see the part of the story that goes, "the 32 bit version [of the install CD] repeatedly crashed on install and made me think my HD was DOA for 3 days." I /can't/ install the 32-bit version. I don't know why. if we got more ram, would that make the x64 version suddenly work? 2gb ram sounds like a lot to me, considering my current comp has like 1 and a quarter.
 
"What exactly did you buy"
my husband, being a phd student, went to the computer store on campus and got Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 2 CDs, one says "with Service Pack 2" and the other says "x64 Edition". The 'sp2' disk refused to install and gave me this error message: "Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged." however, using the x64 disk, Windows installed just fine. the sp2 disk does not have any visible scratches on it at all.
 
 
--> Shadow703793 "Did you up the DDR2 Voltage? "
did i do what? o_0. i don't know how to do that.
 
"scan for HDD errors"
my friend who has a Geek Squad diagnostic tool ran a two hour full scan on the HD and it said it was perfectly fine. this was right before we tried installing the x64 windows.

the 32bit version SHOULD have installed smoothly, there is absolutely no reason that it should crash.

Likewise, XP64 can run with any ammount of ram you throw at it. 1gb-the very large number maxmimum (i forget!)

At what point during the install did it crash?
(ps I think your making this out to be much more complicated than it actually is)

"At what point during the install did it crash?"
 
while it was formatting the harddrive, before windows even really got started installing. it got to 70% formatting and would say "Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged."
 
and not to be contrary, but if the situation weren't really this complicated, what's the problem and how do i fix it? if the solution is simple, then please tell me what it is. i'm trying my best to clearly outline every step i'm doing so that people who know more than i do can see what i'm doing and either find that i'm doing something wrong, that i'm not doing something i should be, or that there is a problem beyond something i am/should be doing. too much information is better than too little, yes?

Go to the BIOS ->M.I.T ->System Voltage Control -> Set to Manual
Then go to ->DDR2 Over Voltage -> +.1
Save and Exit. If you give me a link to the motherboard manual I could provide more exact information. The setting names that I used are just general settings for most/all Gigabyte motherboards.

As for the GeekSquad, their Diagnostic tool is very bad. Trust me. One of my friends had the some HDD problems after his PSU died and corrupted the drive (Windows installations failed, 2k, Xp, Vista). And he took it to GeekSquad and they did a "diagnostic" and it said the HDD was bad and they offered to sell him a new drive. He came back to me and I ran the SeaTools DOS via UBCD and voila! Found 3 or so corrupted sectors and the tool was also able to repair it (after Nuking the drive 1st). Its always worth it to run SeaTools DOS and see. I'm not trying to criticize your friend but I personally wouldn't recommend any one use GeekSquad 1) they over charge, 2) they don;'t know WTF they are talking about 60% of the time.

You could also try Microcenter if possible. Microcenter ppl. actually DO know WTF they are talking about. I once asked them for a PSU recommendation for a 8800GTX build (as a test), and they said that I should go with a Corsair  520HX. Then I said that I didn't like Corsair (not true btw) and wanted to go with something else like some random PSU they had on sale (think it was a CoolerMaster 600W) and they said that I should probably checkout the reviews online (specifically the XS PSU tire listing) for those two PSUs and also explained the +12amps and etc. I ended up buying the Corsair520 anyways,I wanted to get the 620HX but that would have been an overkill. Now that is what I call knowing WTF they are talking about.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

Agreed.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)  

On the running PC run the command "ipconfig /release" without the quotes and then disconnect it and connect the XP 64 PC and turn it on. The modem may only allow one machine to have an IP at a time. That is what a router and NAT allows you to do.

Jim_L9 is right.  The problem is actually with the modem.  You could also reset the modem (should be a "little" button on the back).  Contact your ISP Help-Desk to walk you throug it.

^or unplugg power to modem for ~2-3minutes.

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E2180 @3.2Ghz + P35DS3L +8400GS (700/475 OC)