hi, we replaced a 1900 series switch with a 2960 switch but now we have a michine that cannot connect to the LAN. when u plug in the cable its connecting to a 1gbps network yet we oprate on a 100mbps network. ip assigining is done by the DHCP. Tried connecting a different machine to the point its said limited connectivity. tried pinging the switch from the different machine its saying destination host unreachable.

does the machine work on another port of the switch?
if it does - you must have configured the specific port for 1G connectivity, or just non-negotiation.
if it doesn't, check the port settings on the switch, but try to play around with the NIC settings on the machine - try with other duplex settings, speed negotiation etc. or even try with a different NIC

and yes, the basics - are the cables alright?

First thing I would do is check the local area connection in the control panel. Does it show you are pulling an IP address? Was the machine configured for a static IP? If it was configured with a static IP it would show as connected, but not get any conectivity.