Tech Support Needed

We have a problem. Currently, the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo D 8800 Notebook of my girlfriend Katharina will not recognize the LAN anymore. It’s not the cable as it works properly with my laptop, but apparently the hardware LAN port of her laptop or the software recognition to detect a LAN of Windows XP Home. Instead of detecting the 100 MBit LAN or detecting whether a cable is plugged in or out, it constantly claims a 100 MBit LAN is active (even if no cable is plugged in) with a (windows internal?) IP Address of 169.254.xx.yy! I recognize this weird IP set… so if anybody has an idea on how to solve this problem, please let us know. On another note, her I-Pod is freaking out. She told me its normal with that shit thing, but I wish there was a way how to crush it’s digital skull and bones.