How do I share information between computers on my network?

[Salvador]

Hi,

I'm very new to the network thing and I just got my Netgear 314 up and running.

My question is how I share information from one computer to the next on my network?

TIA,

Sal

 

[Tallgeese]

<< how I share information from one computer to the next on my network? >>

A few questions first, Sal...
What OS on your machines?
All of them sharing?
Just files, or printer and Internet, too?
What protocols are you planning to use?
If TCP/IP, can you ping between machines?

BTW: Welcome!

 

[Salvador]

Well.. I'm using Windows 98SE on one computer and WinME on another. They are configured Dymanically (DHCP)

I don't know what you mean by protocals or TC/IP or pinging between machines.

All that I did was hook the Netgear router up to the cable modem, hook both computers to the router, go online and configure the computers through DHCP with the online wizard that Netgear provides on their site.

Wallah! I'm sharing internet, but I'd like to share information and the printer if I could.

Thanks again,

Sal

 

[Kewlb]

Ok.

on the windows 98/ME machines install the &quot;microsoft file and printer sharing&quot; client.

(right click network neighborhood, go to properties, click add, then click service, then file and printer sharing for microsoft networks. reboot computer. now on the computers right click the C drive and share it, name your share like CDrive or something like that it does not matter. now go to the other computer and open up windows explorer now go to tools->map network drive and enter in the UNC path to the other computer share ie: \\computername\sharename ie: if you created the CDrive share on your win98 machine which was named brian it would be: \\brian\CDrive do this on the other computer as well.. now you are sharing files. go to the computer that has the printer installed and right click on the printer and select sharing and share the printer.. now go to the other computer and add a printer, select network printer and type in the UNC path to the printer share ie: \\computername\share like \\brian\hplj now you are sharing a printer.. have fun and hope this was not too broad. If you have further questions just post them.

 

[Tallgeese]

*beat to the punch*
*damn, slow typing!*

 

[Salvador]

Ok.. I'm stuck at the part where you want me to go to my other computer and enter in the UNC path.

I have the &quot;map network drive&quot; open from Win Explorer (tools> map network drive).

What is the computer name and where do I find it? So.. I just enter:

\\computername\whateverInamedthesharedcdrive?

I guess all I need is how to get the information about my computer name or where to name it.

Also, I should enter the same exact thing in each computer under map network drive?

Thanks again!

Sal

One last thing.. In the other machine that I opened &quot;map network drive&quot; in, it gave me the choice of drive letters and none of them are c. Is the c drive in the Windows98 machine going to show up as a different drive letter on my other machine? Is that how that works?

 

[Kewlb]

right click your network neighborhood and go to properties then go to the Identification tab that tells you what the computers name is, you can change it if you like but it requires a reboot.

 

[Salvador]

I figured that it was the name for the computer, so I tried this right before I got your message and it didn't work. I got an error.

I entered the computer name and the name of the shared c drive just like you told me to and it didn't work.

Also.. The first drive letter that it is allowing me to use is E. Is this correct? It must be because my hdd is c and my cd rom is d. Correct?

Can you think of any reason why I'd get an error by entering the pathname?

 

[Kewlb]

what is the error it gives you then I can help you more, and yes the drive letter is correct.

 

[Salvador]

I renamed the computer for the Win98 machine because I no longer need the name that @home gave me to connect because I have the router configured with that name.

Anyway.. It says that it's not a valid name or path. I put the name in exactly the way that I have it set up on this computer under network > identities and have the shared name exactly how I put it in there.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Sal

 

[Kewlb]

invalid path huh? do you have the NetBIOS protocol installed and are the computers on the same subnet? if so that should work without any problems.

 

[Tallgeese]

<< It says that it's not a valid name or path. >>

Try to connect to it using the ip address of the remote machine...
Give it the command in the following form at the Start->Run line:
\\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
If this command opens a window that shows you the shared items on the remote computer, then you've got a naming problem for sure. If it doesn't, then something's wacky with the sharing.

Let us know what happens.

 

[Salvador]

How do I find the address of the remote machine when they are both set up as DHCP?

I don't have NetBIOS installed. Should that be installed in Networks where my TCP/IP is installed?

Sal

 

[Tallgeese]

<< How do I find the address of the remote machine when they are both set up as DHCP? >>

Typ &quot;winipcfg&quot; at the Start-Run line, then hit Enter.

 

[Salvador]

Someone is using the remote computer at thje moment. Do I need to have Netbios installed in the Network configurator for this to work? I only have TCP/IP installed.

 

[Salvador]

I tried entering the IP address of the remote computer and it couldn't be found.

Let me ask you this. I ran winipcfg on the remote computer and it popped up the screen with a PPP adapter. I had to select the Ethernet Adapter from a drop down menu and then it gave me the IP address and subnet information. Is this correct or is something wrong?

Thanks again,

Sal

 

[Salvador]

I really hate this. I can never have an easy time with a computer. The Netgear router was pretty straight forward, but for some reason, it corrupted the files on other pc and I had to reinstall TCP/IP to even get back on the computer without the router.

I bought a video card and I can't get it to work when I cold boot the machine. I have to start the computer, immediately shut it down and then restart it to work.

I just bought a 19&quot; Sony G420 and the thing has an annoying brown area eminating from the lower right hand corner. Not to mention that I'm not really fond of the AG lines that I end up seeing the longer I use this thing. What a disapointment for a $500 monitor.

Anyway... Just venting. It never can be easy, can it. I've been a little more than disapointed with computer hardware lately.

Sal

 

[Tallgeese]

<< I had to select the Ethernet Adapter from a drop down menu and then it gave me the IP address and subnet information. Is this correct or is something wrong? >>

This is OK. The drop down allows you to see the unique info for each network interface (of which PPP is one, if you have dial-up installed) on your machine.
Here are 3 things to try:

Double-check that you actually have File &amp; Print Sharing enabled.
Go to Start->Settings->Control Panel->Network
Click on the button that says &quot;File and Print Sharing&quot;
Verify there are check marks in whichever of those services you want enabled on each machine.
Click OK on the dialog boxes to close them.
Reboot if you changed anything.
Verify your shared items according to Kewlb's previous posts.

Try to &quot;ping&quot; between your machines.
From a DOS prompt on either of them, type the following command:
&quot;ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx&quot; where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the ip address of the other machine.

Might be helpful to post the IP settings of these two machines.

MOVED TO PM. WILL POST FIX WHEN FINISHED

 

[Tallgeese]

<< [snipped tons of troubleshooting everything but the problem, which was MULTIPLE firewalls (BlackICE, ZoneAlarm) installed on sharing machine. Extra firewall (BlackICE) removed. The Messiah has come back, all is pure...you are in the sh*thouse.] >>

Everybody clear on that?

This could also be known as a ScottMac Special!

 

[Salvador]

Yes.. It was the firewall. I disabled Blackice and Viola! No more networking problems.

Many thanks to everyone that helped, especially TallGeese who was very patient, very helpful and willing to let me PM him so he could help me figure this thing out.

Sal