Win 7 Pro x64 slow to set up network connection

I have Windows 7 64-bit connecting to a hybrid Windows/samba network.

On boot, Win7 takes 1 - 2 minutes to negotiate a DHCP lease; set to a static, it takes about the same amount of time to connect. Other Vista and XP PCs connect in seconds. I have tried:

• Replacing the switch
• Enabling Spanning Tree Protocol and Fastport on the switch
• Replacing the DHCP server/gateway
• Updating the Win7 NIC drivers
• Selectively disabling components in startup (removing the Nero components helped a bit)
• Disabling IPv6 and Link Layer Topology drivers in Local Area Connection properties
• Changing from one firewall (Forticlient) to another (COMODO) - both 64-bit

I've searched high and low for other solutions, but no success. Any advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forums Ironstone

If you boot in safe mode (where all the startup items are disabled), does this improve the connection speed?

Are you able to swap the NIC over to see if it's a compatibility problem?

Just to toss some guesses out there, have you uninstalled your ethernet drivers and installed the latest ones, even if you are already using the most current drivers?