Please dont flame my ass

Vader

I want to network 2 computers, a laptop win XP and a dell windows windows 2000. I put in my crossover cable into the LAN socets and ran the wizard on the laptop and when it was finished I had a shortcut to the dell but couldnt conect. I couldnt see the files I wanted to share, let alone copy them. It was a total disaster.

I then tried to connect my gateway win 98 and dell win 2000. The gateway was already part of a network with perfect file sharing. I ran the wirard and eventually after messing all over the place in everything I could find the two computers could see each other and the dell could take the gateways files but not the other way round. But that stoped working after a while.

I want to delete my network settings on the 3 computers.
I want to be able to plug the laptop into either computer and share files.
Could somebody give me detailed instructions, dont assume I know anything, and please dont flame my ass.

I need help please.

Capt'n Midnight

Judging by the number of threads on networking XP to anything else you should realise it was not meant to be easy. Also you are looking for a non-standard mix and match solution. I reckon that two notebooks that need to connect to two different networks (one of which I'm in) take as much time to admin each site office with five to ten people....

eg: Before XP all versions of windows defaulted to a workgroup called workgroup. You don't see PC's in a workgroup of another name - which seems be what XP likes doing. Make sure these are ok first.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60032
www.wown.info and www.practicallynetworked.com for networking help.

If you setup ICS on either the notebook OR on both of the desktops (if they are not connecting to each other) then when you connect the notebook to a pc both will have pingable IP addresses.

BTW: if you do get sorted can you please put the solution you got on to the sticky thread above

The fastest (not the best or safest) way to remove network settings is to remove the NIC in device manager. BUT don't do this unless you are sure you have the drivers etc. ...

Renton

Okay.

Windows XP Computer

1. Start -> Settings -> Network Connections.

2. Right click on Local Area Connection -> Properties.

3. Double click on TCP/IP

4. Set the IP Address to 10.0.0.1 with a Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

5. Click OK

6. Right Click on My Computer and select properties.

7. Click on Computer Name, make sure that you are in the WORKGROUP workgroup. Also it would be a good idea to give the pc a proper name. use WINXP mabye..

Windows 2000 Computer

1. Start -> settings -> network & dialup connections

2. Right click on Local Area Connection -> Properties.

3. Double click on TCP/IP

4. Set the IP Address to 10.0.0.2 with a Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

5. Click OK

6. Right Click on My Computer and select properties.

7. Click on the network identificatoin tab, make sure that you are in the WORKGROUP workgroup. Also it would be a good idea to give the pc a proper name. use WIN2K mabye..

Windows 98 Computer

1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Networking

2. Make sure you have Client for microsoft Networking & TCP/IP Installed.

2a If not, click Add -> Client or Add -> Protocol

3. Click on the File & Printer sharing button, select both.

4. double Click on TCP/IP

5. Set the IP Address to 10.0.0.3, with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

6. Click OK

7. Click on the Identification tab, Give the computer a name. Say Win98. Set the workgroup to WORKGROUP

.
.

Okay, if you did all that, then your computers should be able to see each other on a network. However, you'll probably run into problems because of login details.

Easiest way to sort this is to create another user account:

Windows 2000 & XP Computer

1. Right click My Computer and select manage.

2. Click on Local Users and Groups -> Users

3. Find out what usernames the Windows 98 Machine & the Windows 2000/XP Machine are logging into windows with.

4. Right click -> New -> User and create a user account for both of the usernames you just found out. Now click on groups. Double click on administrators, and add the accounts to the list of admins.

Not too sure about Windows XP.

po0k

Here's a hint:
Don't use bloody wizards.

Renton has explained it well.
If you can't get it working, read the instructions again, or google for a quick networking guide, god knows there's enough out there.

Vader

Renton has explained it perfectly but before I begin I have one final Q. Will any of this interfere with my XP laptop's ability to connect to the network in UCD.
(I know I said I was going to delete my settings, I was only refering to the 98 and the 2000 PCs not this laptop. I dont think I actually need to anyway)

Capt'n Midnight

Setting static addresses will disable your ability to connect to ANY other network. One option would be to get a USB network card and assign the static address (10.0.x.y) to it and leave the built in NIC on DHCP (auto configure)

(hence my comments about portables being difficult to support - if you want to connect to more than one network.)

You could setup the Laptop with DHCP so it could connect to the college lan ; but then you'd need to setup ICS on one or both PC's

Or you could buy a broadband router - this would link all three computers and provide the IP addresses automatically.

Vader

Currently I "Obtain an IP adress automatically" and ye say I need to set a static one but that this will ruin my ability to connect to other networks. Can I not put in a static address sometimes and when I put "Obtain an IP adress automatically" be able to connect to the colledge network?

jbkenn

Here are some products you might look at

Netswitcher
http://www.netswitcher.com/

Select-a-Net
http://www.ut-zone.com/

MNM
http://www.globesoft.com/Common/frm_products.html

jbkenn

captainpat

I connected two XP Pro PCs through my router (cabled). Windows Explorer could see the workgroup, and the PCs in it from both machines, but I could not open the "other" PC. Got message saying that I did not have permissions.

Went back to basics, removed all connections, re-set up with Wizard on the install XP CD. (Under Other functions or something.) Did this on both PCs. When I tried to browse the "other" PC, got what I thought was the same "no permissions" message box. After a while I noticed that the message was a bit different. It included another reason why I could fail to browse: a blank password.

Of course I had not set a password on my username on either PC. Did so quickly, and - magic - both can see each other's shares.

Not an answer, but worth knowing.

Happy Times!

Vader

on the win 2000 after i Double click on TCP/IP (step 3) I notice a hat there is 2 tabs whilst I Obtain an IP adress automatically. One the other tab(which says something about more than 1 network) there is this yolk asking for alternet ip addresses. If I set a static ip on the first tab the second one disappeares. I wonder, if I set the alternet ip to the thing you told me and leave the first tab on Obtain an IP adress automatically, will I be able to conect to the UCD lan and this new lan?







* I realise that "yolk" and "thing" arent in most computer manuals

fractal

Check out http://www.foxpop.co.uk/pc/network_01.htm

Quick tutorial about how to use netsh to config your network interfaces via a batch file.. That should overcome the problem of different settings on different networks..