I do exactly what you want to do (except running a linux vm on a linux vmware host - don't ask...).
Do you have a router, or is your pc hooked directly to the cable?
If you have a router, you just configure the vm for bridged-mode networking, and configure linux in the vm to use an ip address in your private network range.
If you don't have a router ... get a router or be hacked ;) Seriously, hooking a w2k machine straight to cable is not a smart thing to do - or any machine for that matter. My friend Russell did a test by hooking up a linux machine with intrusion detection to the net, and it took from memory less than 48 hours to rack up the first 3 hack attempts.
