Check the configuration of dhcp server,
the e-smith server provides dhcp service to the clients, and windows nt based systems must be pointed to look for this service inthe e-smith.
the configuration tool in windows 95/98 is winipcfg.exe, and in windows NT/ME/2000 should be one too (probably ipcfg.exe) I'dont remember, My windows NT machine was replaced by my e-smith server

alejandro