In an effort to make implementing the TCP/IP protocol more manageable, Microsoft worked with other industry leaders to create an Internet standard called Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) for the automatic allocation of IP addresses. DHCP is not a Microsoft standard, but a public Request for Comments (RFC 1541) that Microsoft has implemented.
DHCP allows you to establish a range of valid IP addresses to be used per subnetwork. An individual IP address from the range is assigned dynamically to any DHCP client requesting an address. DHCP also allows you to establish a lease time that defines how long an IP address is to remain valid. Other configuration parameters can also be assigned using DHCP, such as subnet mask, DNS and WINS server identification, and so on.
A computer running Windows 95 cannot be a DHCP server. A DHCP server runs as a service on a Windows NT 3.5 Server computer. If DHCP is available company-wide, users can move from subnet to subnet and always have a valid IP address. The IP Configuration utility (WINIPCFG) allows users or administrators to examine the current IP address assigned to the computer, the IP address lease time, and other useful data about the TCP/IP configuration.
When TCP/IP is installed, Windows 95 automatically enables the option to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server. This option can be disabled using the Network option in Control Panel if you want to enter an IP address manually.
If Microsoft TCP/IP is configured to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server when a DHCP server is not available on the network, the next time Windows 95 starts, an error message announces that the DHCP client could not obtain an IP address. To solve this problem, use the procedure described in the following section to configure TCP/IP manually.