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These days, when I have a problem with my computer, I immediately take screenshots of the solution just in case I want to put the guide on this website. For months, my XP desktop would show that is “Acquiring Network Address” continuously on the network icon; however, the Internet connection was perfectly fine. If you have an active Internet connection but they always shows “Acquiring Network Address”, this guide is for you.
Remove “Acquiring Network Address” Notification
To remove the “Acquiring Network Address” notification, do the following:
- Right click on the network icon in the notification area and click Open Network Connections
- Right Click on the connection you are having issues with and click Properties
- On the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties
- On Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialogue, click the Advanced… button
- Click the WINS tab and change the NetBIOS Setting from Default to Enable
- Press OK on the dialogues
You should no longer see the message
Your connection was waiting on NETBIOS information from the DHCP server–probably a router–which does not provide this information.
About Rich
Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix them.
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I’ve been watching that blinking network icon in systray for several years, now it’s gone – thanks to your fix!
I’ve been watching that blinking network icon in systray for several years, now it’s gone – thanks to your fix!
I’ve been watching that blinking network icon in systray for several years, now it’s gone – thanks to your fix!
Thanks for the tip. It worked for me!
you are AWESOME worked great after LOOOONG search.
here u come to the rescue
Glad this helped :)
Nifty and accurate instructions, although a single left click on the icon in the notification area gets one to the General Tab 2 clicks quicker. :)
Thanks for the article. It is very helpful.
I did right clicked on the network icon and it keeps on blinking i can click or open anything
YAY! Fixed me up perfectly.
Perfect solution! This has been bothering me for quite a while, and your fix worked great. Thanks!
Try changing computer name. Go into ctrl panel/system/comp. name click ‘change’. You need to restart then.
Have you tried the advice above to remove ANA ?
you are a genius, you just fixed my problem.
I followed the instructions ….Open Network Connections and it solved the problem of the “Acquiring Network Address” message. But after turning the computer off and then back on, the message has returned. So I guess I am back to square one. Nothing I can’t live with. It just would have been nice to have removed the message.
Doesn’t work
Doesn’t give us enough information to help
Didn’t work for me, but glad to see it worked for someone.
Your solution worked for me. I was having the problem on a Dell Dimension 3000 desktop PC running Windows XP Home Edition SP3. I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 running on the same network on Windows XP Media Center Edition SP3 and it has never had the problem.
The network card on the Dell Dimension 3000 is an Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection.
My desktop has been having this issue and the internet will not work. I tried the above suggestion as well as countless others I found online but nothing seems to work. I also tried hard connecting an ethernet cable into my desktop and still nothing. The strange thing about this issue is that it occurred after cleaning up my computer by running disk defrag, anti-malware scanner, etc.. Before cleaning my computer the internet worked fine. After restarting it, the internet has not worked since. I have multiple devices including an Xbox, smart phone, and several laptops/computers around the house which have no problem connecting to the internet via a wireless router. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.
on a multi-homed XP, I was seeing this “Acquiring network address” on a nic with a fixed address. (the affected nic was fine; but the notice was annoying).
The cure: Advanced TCP/IP Settings, WINS tab, tick ‘Enable LMHOSTS lookup’
I normally disable LMHOSTS (used by some trojans/worms/ viruses, iirc).
Indeed I usually disable netBIOS on hostile/non-friendly subnets.
correct solution, thank you
still the same. ‘ACQUIRING NETWORK ADDRESS’,somenone pls. help me