I'm having a really hard time networking 2 computers to share files.. can anyone help??

[foolanger]

on the network proflie, i put both of the workgroup name as "a", assigned each computer different names, clicked "share-level access control", and allowed "file and print sharing" am i missing something here?? then i go to network neighborhood, and i see only 1 computer i'm using under workgroup a.. anyone know what i'm doing wrong? thanks for all ur help

 

[Zalen]

I am assuming you are using windows. Go to windows explorer and right click on the drive (HD or CD) and click on sharing. Set the parameters you want and that should do it. You won't see the other computer till there is something to share.

 

[Tomek]

you might want to check if both computers have the same network protocols (TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, etc.) installed

 

[Mitzi]

What operating system are you using - Windows 98?

 

[Woodchuck101]

First and most importantly, make sure your physical connection is okay. If you have a newish NIC, it'll have some green lights on the back, normally Link, Act, 100. If the physical connection is there, Link should be lit when both PCs are one. Act(ivity) indicates data transfer is occuring, and 100 tells you you're running at 100mbps, rather than the standard 10.

If you're connecting PC-PC, you should either be using Coaxial cable, in which case you want a long cable with a T-piece and terminator on each end, and the t-piece connected to the NIC. If you're using Cat5 (looks like a telephone cable, but bigger and meaner) you need a crossover cable to go PC-PC, or two normal pieces of cable and a hub.

That done, you need as a bare minimum in your networking protocols:
Client for Microsoft Networks
File and Printer Sharing for microsoft networks
TCP/IP

Check the PCs IP addresses by going into a dos prompt, and running IPconfig - the first two clusters <MUST> be the same, or the PCs will not communicate without using a router. 172.16.222.1 will talk to 172.16.0.10, but not to 172.15.222.2

The computers will not appear in a workgroup unless something is shared, as Zalen said. Make sure that something is shared on both PCs.

If none of that helps, let us know, and we'll try and sort something out...

 

[Jiggz]

In addition to all of the preceding recommendations which by the way are as good as you can get with respect to your question, you can also get some more info with this Networking

 

[MulLa]

Are they able to ping each other?

 

[mboy]

Also make sure you dont have a firewall on either computer during initial setup.

 

[MikeMike]

use 125.125.125.xxx for some reason i have heard that 125.etc is faster and make sure all of the settings are the same and you are useing the correct cable
i.e. if your networkin w/o a router your usin the correct cable (cat 5) if i am not mistakin or else it will not work without a router

 

[NTguru]

All you need to do is get some cat5 Patch cable if you want to use a hub, or if you want to go from pc to pc, use straight through cabling. Then in Windows, right click on network neighborhood, click on properties, then go to TCP/IP settings and click on properties. Assign the following IP address: 192.168.1.1 (This is a private range IP address), then make sure you have selected 255.255.255.0 as your network mask (subnet mask), and leave default gateway as it is, unless you have a router (which in this case, is not needed). Now, on the second pc, do the same thing except make the IP address 192.168.1.2 (if you use the same IP as the other pc it will conflict with each other). Once you have that done, and both pc's are rebooted. Click on start, run and type command. After that from pc 1 (the first pc you setup with ip 192.168.1.1) type ping 192.168.1.2 and if you get a request timeout, then there is a setting wrong with either your network adapter or your cabling scheme is setup wrong, or the cabling is bad.

 

[sandorski]

Well, more info would be good. Are you using a hub, switch, or are you connecting 1 end of the cable to 1 computer and the other end to the other computer? If you are using just a cable, you need to get a special cable that's wired for that purpose.

You really don't need to use IP addresses, Windows will take care of addressing using DHCP, which is default. Besides, IPX or NETBUI work without IP Adresses.

Post back with more info please.