I was having a problem with a new Dell server’s NIC adapter.  I changed the NIC to a static IP address and it would instantly switch back to obtain automatically.    Even after uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers the issue persisted.   After a Dell chat was initiated, we had the resolution.  I guess the Broadcom NetXtreme II NIC has a driver that is only intended for the Remote Installation Services (RIS) and if that gets auto-installed, then you will get this issue.     You have to uninstall and reinstall the drivers with a specific process.

The process is as follows:

Download the Newest 12.4 Broadcom Driver

Win2k3 32bit

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R194873&SystemID=PWE_M905&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=8641&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=2&libid=5&fileid=269127

1.      Unzip BCOMRemove.zip  [BCOMRemove.zip]

2.      Rename BCOM_Remove.txt to BCOM_Remove.vbs and rename BCOM_Finalize.txt to BCOM_Finalize.vbs.

3.      Uninstall the BCOM apps and drivers through add/remove programs (select No for restart now)

4.      Run the BCOM_Remove.vbs

5.      Reboot

6.      Cancel out of Found new hardware

7.      Run BCOM_Finalize.vbs

8.      Run setup from the Hard Drive version.

9.      Reboot