Error: DHCP Server Unavailable. Renewing Adapter.

From a high speed modem which is able to connect to my Xp by USB and any
other with regular ethernet cable. I have two 98se's. I plugged one in
while following simple network instructions like 'obtain ip automatically',
disable DNS, etc. My first 98se connected perfectly.

Then I unplugged 98 #1 and plugged in #2 and used the same network
connections (all that I could see) identical to the first. But it did not
take and when I used winipcfg.exe I tried the Release and Renew buttons as I
read from some other sites but I am continuing getting:

Error: DHCP Server Unavailable. Renaming Adapter.

After a day of rebooting and trying various networking configurations, can
anyone tell me what the ideal settings should be and if I am missing
anything which may be hiding (registry values for instance).

Many thanks in advance!

--
Bob M.