Win7 says no ethernet cable is connected - it lies!

This is unlikely, but I'll throw it into the mix anyway.

Most routers/hubs have one port designated for connecting to another router/hub... did you somehow get plugged into that port? If so, try one of the other ports.

Make sure Windows is trying to use the correct Internet connection. Sometimes extra stuff gets in your list of available connections and Windows wants to use the wrong one.

Also, lots of motherboards have two NICs built in these days. If you only use one of them you'll probably want to disable the other one in the BIOS, else Windows will always remind you that there is nothing plugged into it. If you've already done that, make sure you have the cable plugged in to the right one. (Done that once myself...)

Darwin - Nope. I'm plugged into port 1, and my PS3 used to be plugged into port 2 when it sat next to my computer. Other than the power plug, the only other ports are 3 and 4. My "from modem" is labeled "Internet", so that's pretty hard to screw up.

profdlp - I've disabled both connections at one point or another from within the OS. My mobo only has 1 onboard, I haven't thought of disabling it through my BIOS. I'll post back later and let you know how that goes.

I fixed it! I found something while picking Google's brain, and I'd love to share it with y'all!

This worked immediately for me without rebooting...I obviously rebooted anyway.

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

Thanks for sharing the solution with us and glad to hear that you're up and running.

No problem. Thank y'all for your patience and knowledge. I see there's a lot of similar problems on here about ethernet cables not being seen.

I just got Speccy, and it's pretty much awesome. Thank you.

Glad to have been of help.