ok here is the problem, my mates computer has been showing "limited or no connectivity" on her local area connection for some time now..

ive searched for an answer but i cant find one.. because everones problems are to do with networks

here are the facts:

no router/network
internet is plugged directly into computer
can connect to internet but its very slow.. especially downloads.. for example.. on broadband a 200mb file will take 11 hours
she has windows xp SP2

so any help with this would be greatly appreciated

does he/she have a modem?

Ask her to go to internetfrog.com (it has to be from her computer), where she can run a test to see the speed of her broadband, and also how fast she should be able to download and upload to the net. I've only seen problems like that with wireless connections though, and you say that hers is wired, so I can't think of anything else.
She could also contact her internet Service Provider to be sure that everything is right with them.

Sorry can't be of anymore help

I usually get this problem when I use "Automatically detect the IP address" setting for my LAN card. This is corrected when I specify it manually.

Hi

You need to set your network connections properly.

Click Start
Click My Network Place
Click View Network Connections
right click local area connection
and click propeties
D/Click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Get the information from the Internet sevice provider by calling them and put the information in "Use the following IP address" once completed click ok , ok and restart computer.

Hope this helps

Darren