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Windows XP Networking Question - PLEASE HELP!

B

BorgCollective

Member
I am creating a home network between my laptop & desktop and need some advice. Both machines have Windows XP Home fully upgraded, and I would like to file share between them - no internet connection sharing is needed. Both have NIC cards, and TCP/IP running. The desktop has 2 NICs in it, both 3COM: one will be dedicated to connect to the broadband connection, while the other will be dedicated to the connection to the laptop. I have a crossover cable to connect the laptop & desktop. I have also connected two machines in this manner through Windows 98SE, but never in XP. Workgroups are the same in both machines.

My questions are as follows:

1. Are there any specific adjustments I will need to make to my configuration so that XP will work with 2 NICs for two different purposes?

2. Are there any special protocols like IPX or NetBEUI that I will need to install in XP to make the connection to the broadband (desktop) and the laptop (crossover cable) work at the same time?

3. I know that I have to lock in a gateway of some sort for the two machines to see each other on the network. How would I do that?

Any other advice, suggestions and/or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance very much! 😎
 
1. No
2. No, waht you need should be installed buy default, just Go to desktop PC NIC with crossover cable, right click, enable ICS.
3. No you dont.

File share, Right click on the folders and enable sharing or try the wizard.
 
ICS = Internet connection sharing, a program available in WinXP. If you want both computers to have internet access, I personally would get an inexpensive router. ICS can be flakey, and with a router you don't need one machine to act as an always-on internet server for the other. If you just want to share files and not internet, then I suppose your approach is fine.
 
I do not want the two computers to share an internet connection. I just want to connect them to sync up some files between them that are constantly updated on the laptop, but used on the desktop. I thought about the router, but it was too expensive for what I am going to be using it for. Thanks for everyone's continued help. Any other suggestions are appreciated.
 
One question on this - Will the router give me 100MB/s transfer for the internet and through the two computers via the router??? I am new to networking.

Thanks,

Joe
 
Originally posted by: BorgCollective
One question on this - Will the router give me 100MB/s transfer for the internet and through the two computers via the router??? I am new to networking.

Thanks,

Joe
Click to expand...

If you're using a cable/dsl router it will give you 100MB/s between computers on your local network but will throttle down to your cable/dsl speed for anything going in our out to the internet...It behaves just like you'd want it to.
 
GREAT! It looks like I am going to get a Router tonight. Hopefully this thing is a snap to setup and use. Any helpful tips for Router setup and usage?

Thanks again everyone. I will let you know how it turns out.
 
ok, thanks. In order to hook up to broadband I need to find the MAC hardware address or the router. Hopefully I should be up and running on my network tonight.

Thanks,
 
Originally posted by: BorgCollective
ok, thanks. In order to hook up to broadband I need to find the MAC hardware address or the router. Hopefully I should be up and running on my network tonight.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Wha??

When you get your router, turn the modem power off, and turn the pc off. Then turn on the cablemodem, wait for it to set, then connect the cat5 cable from the modem to your router's wan port. Next, plug the router's power chord in to power it up, then connect your cat5 cable from the router to your PC and boot up. All that's left is to configure whether your want static or dynamic IP's, its up to you. Then when that's done, you'll need to go thru the internet setup wizard to say you want to connect to the internet via a LAN connection and you should be up and surfing in no time. ( ymmv 😀 )

 
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