My PC will only boot up if the ethernet cable is unplugged from it. After it has booted up I can then plug in the cable to use the intenet; but next time I try to boot up the computer I have to first unplug the cable and then plug it in again if using the internet.
Either the cable or you have an issue with the one of the connectors the cable goes into. But yeah, sounds like a short. Try a different cable first and if that don't solve it then one of the ports is bad.
Agreed with above. If the port itself looks like it's bent at all or anything like that it's probably the socket shorting. I'd try a different cable though first as that's easier to check/fix.
