Solution remembered and am back online on Windows!!! What a newb I am. I can't believe I forgot about the other step to fixing the issue.
All you have to do for if the machine can't grab an i.p. is...
1. search for the file 'tcpip.sys'
- results will show 5 or so files named 'tcpip'
- 2 of the results(both will be named 'tcpip.sys') will be from a recent modified date while the other 3(named 'tcpip.sys.original') will be from a much earlier date
2. delete the two recent 'tcpip.sys' files
3. rename the 'tcpip.sys.original' files to 'tcpip.sys'
4. uninstall the NIC Ethernet adapter
- Start > right click My Computer > properties > click Hardware tab > Device Manager > Network Adapters > right click NIC Ethernet Adapter and uninstall
5. reboot
- when Windows restarts, it'll detect NIC Adapter as 'New Hardware found' and will install
6. go online!!!