/etc/dhcpc/dhcpc-eth1.info DHCPSNAME=’puppy’ answer to your first question is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=55564 The relevant bit is this: Try editing your /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf file and unremming/editing the line: send host-name “yourhostnamehere”; Then do: sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart sudo ifup eth0 Edit /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf with this command: gksudo gedit /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf