Network Issues with XP

I have a box that is solely used as a media server and I have it connected strait from the PC to the WDTV Live with an ethernet cable.  It keeps telling me in XP that a network cable is unplugged.  I have gotten it to work for about an hour or so but then it will disconnect and be unable to reconnect.  This is so frustrating but it seems like it should be so simple!  Anyone experienced this problem or have suggestions?

I’m surprised it works at all. I have three PC’s connected to a router, and WDTV Live plays video from them via its wireless connection to the router. Without an IP address for the two devices to identify each other, how would using just the cable ever work?

Basically all it is is a giant hard drive with videos.  And my wireless router is on another floor and I don’t necessarily trust streaming 1080 over wireless.  I basically just want my WD Live to see my comp as a giant hard drive.

You want Network-Attached Storage (NAS).  Your PC is not a networkable hard drive, it’s a PC.  If you’re going to connect a network cable to it, you’ll need a protocol with file sharing to enable it to share its resources.

Well my computer is connected to my wireless router wirelessly.  But there seems to be an issue with it retaining an IP address.  I tried setting it to a static IP and putting the settings into the WD Live but that didnt work either.  Any suggestions?