Abit IS7 on-board nic card issue when starting windows??

I have an Abit IS7 motherboard with an ON-Board Intel Gigabit Lan capability for connecting to the internet. I have found that sporadically when starting Windows XP Pro, that I get an network error saying "Cable is unplugged or card is disconnected". Now I know this is not the case, and sometimes I can go into my network properties, "Disable" the on-board lan card, then "Re-enable" it and sometimes that will bring the internet connection back. This is a very annoying issue because it happens sporadically and when it happens, it usually requires a few restarts to get working again, or sometimes if you just wait like 10 or more minutes, the lan card will come back to life. I don't know if this is an issue that a BIOS upgrade can fix, etc. but I would appreciate any feedback that somebody has. Thanks

IMHO, it sounds like the LAN component of your mobo might be going out. Talk to Abit, see if they have any problems like this.