Home Network help

silverfoxdude

Hi everyone

Right..I'm going to Asda and when I get back I intend to network the two home pc's, not using Internet, just to file share.

I have already got the crossover cable.

Could someone please run through it with me, I usually end up getting in a right old mess and causing more complications if I steam in!

So I'll be back in an hour or so, so get typing lol

village_life

disable any firewalls, or add the address range 192.168.2.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0) to the trusted zone
Plug in the Crossover cable to your network cards on each PC
Open network connections on each computer
change IP Address to 192.168.2.1 and 192.168.2.2 respectively on each (the default gateway will be the same as the IP Address)
enable file sharing on your drive/folder of your choice (select drive, right click, select sharing and enable)

ping each device from the other to test it works - i.e. go to start>run> type cmd and press enter

on PC 1 type ping 192.168.2.2 and await reply
on PC 2 type ping 192.168.2.1 and await reply

assuming you get responses, all is ok , map a drive and your away!

silverfoxdude

thank you village life.. wish me luck!!!!

tigermatt

It is as simple as village life said, except if you prefer you could use 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.0.2 or 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2 respectively. Also make sure you re-enable your firewalls once everything is working and set them up so that they allow network traffic from your two selected IP Addresses through. You definately need to re-enable firewalls if one of the computers is using a USB modem or dial-up modem because these don't have any protection and your computer is subject to attack.

Good luck silverfoxdude

mr_fishbulb

Or use the XP Network Wizard.

tigermatt

mr_fishbulb wrote:

Or use the XP Network Wizard.

That does work but it simply sets settings that can be set elsewhere. In fact I had the wizard mess my network up once for some reason and had to do a complete reinstall of the PC involved.

But I must admit if everything goes alright then it can be useful.

silverfoxdude

HELP!!!!!

it hasnt worked, its saying limited or no connectivity.

Chippy_Minton

Did you give each computer an IP address and subnet mask as described above? In Network Connections, right-click Local Area Connection - Properties. Double-click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). What are the settings on the General tab?

Also, make sure both computers are in the same Workgroup. To check or change this right-click My Computer - Properties - Computer Name tab - Change.

silverfoxdude

I have had to system restore and start again. I cannot see any files, although I have pinged each computer and the reply's came in. I have enabled sharing on files but still cannot see anything. Please help

Do I need a router/switch/hub, as some tutorials are saying I do. I have plugged in Ethernet crossover to each pc

Chippy_Minton

silverfoxdude wrote:

I have had to system restore and start again. I cannot see any files, although I have pinged each computer and the reply's came in. I have enabled sharing on files but still cannot see anything. Please help

Do I need a router/switch/hub, as some tutorials are saying I do. I have plugged in Ethernet crossover to each pc

No, you don't need a router/switch/hub. Connecting the PCs to each other with an Ethernet crossover cable will work fine.

If pinging the other computer works and you opted to share files and printers, it should all be working.

Open Windows Explorer on one of the PCs and in the Address box type \\ComputerName (where ComputerName is the name of the other computer) and press return. You should see the shared files and folders on that other computer. If \\ComputerName doesn't work, try its IP address, e.g. \\192.168.0.2. Do the same on the other computer.

If still no joy, post the output of an ipconfig/all command on each computer.

wolfman

Chippy_Minton wrote:

If still no joy, post the output of an ipconfig/all command on each computer.

Start Button (bottom left) > Run > type "cmd" and press enter

On the following screen, type "ipconfig/all" and press enter as Chippy said.

*Just incase you weren't sure how to get there. Do that, post back here with the results and we can help.