169.254 IP address is stuck (Vista)

Suffered through 169.254 IP address being stuck, and thought I would share
what ended up working.

go to START --> cmd.exe (run as administrator)
netsh winsock release
and then you must shutdown your machine (I shut the power off to mine to
make sure that it was not in some sort of powered down mode). It will not
work if you select "restart"!

What did not work:
ipconfig /release (address remained 169.254. It would not release!)