DHCP, Dynamic Host Control Protocol, it is the IP function that allows a server to hand out the appropriate IP address, subnet mask, gateway address, DNS adresses, etc. when requested by a DHCP client. The server can be a real server W2K, W2K3, or it can be a home router, or even an XP box with Internet Connection Sharing turned on.
A client, the PPC, when it is set for DHCP will broadcast a request for adresses and the server will supply them, assumming the request gets there (not blocked by mis-assigned WEP keys or something). If the request does not get there, or there is some incompatibility between DHCP implementations, you may wind up with inappropriate IP numbers on the PPC.
The IP address you PPC gets should be in the same network as your PC but not the same host number. So if the PC is 192.168.1.2, the PPC could be 192.168.1.3. If you have a router it is normally the .1 host.
The other addresses are dependent on your setup. The subnet mask is almost always 255.255.255.0 for home networks, the gateway is the thing that is connected to the internet, could be the router or a machine with ICS turned on. The DNS numbers should be the same on every box you have, and be the ones supplied by your ISP.
If you get a copy of vxUtil and/or vxIPConfig at
www.cam.com, both free, you can see what the IP addresses your PPC is getting are.