Network 98 to XP question

--Tony--

Hi all,

Can anyone offer any advise on this please.

I want to share a broadband connection from an xp machine with a 98 machine.

The XP comp has a modem not router, sharing when both are on is not a problem and I would like to keep it simple as the 98 machine will only use the internet a few times a year.

Both machines have a network card and are quite close, is it just a case of getting a network cable and plugging them together?

Also and most important when we share the internet will the antivirus and firewall of the XP machine also protect the 98 machine, I ask as the 98 machine is very old spec and can't cope with modern virus checkers and firewalls, I have tried them all and the only one it can just about cope with is AVG but even then it slows it right down and occationally causes errors. The system requirments of virus checkers today are just too high for this antique.

Wombat

This may help:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/clientwiz.htm

Certainly, a simple Ethernet cable is all that's required to connect the 2 PCs.

I'm not sure about the A-V and Firewall situation. I would prefer to have them on both machines, and, as the 98 machine only connects a couple of times a year, does it matter too much that it is slow? The A-V and Firewall programs can be switched off when not connecting to the Net.

--Tony--

Wombat wrote:

This may help:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/clientwiz.htm

Certainly, a simple Ethernet cable is all that's required to connect the 2 PCs.

I'm not sure about the A-V and Firewall situation. I would prefer to have them on both machines, and, as the 98 machine only connects a couple of times a year, does it matter too much that it is slow? The A-V and Firewall programs can be switched off when not connecting to the Net.

the application nearly kill the machine, PC cillin actually did and had to be removed in safe mode (needs pentium 300 min if I remember right) it can just about cope with AVG but it really is only just and has caused it to crash.

Chippy_Minton

You'll need a crossover cable to network 2 computers.

I'm not sure about the firewall - have a search for Windows XP Internet Connection Sharing to see how the 98 computer might use the firewall on the XP machine.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxpwin9x.html might be useful.

electron_3

Try http://www.oldversion.com/ for a firewall in the security section the only
problem with running Old applications is that they will be open for attack on some level as they are not upto date.

--Tony--

Thanks guys, from what I'm reading it appear it would be protected but I'm still not sure.

It says the 98 machine will be protected by the built in firewall of XP if turned on so I assume the same logic means the AV would also protect it?

albertross_2

If you have got £20-40 to spare, a router is a much neater solution, the built-in firewall will give you added protection, and Netgear's come with a years free TrendMicro home security A/V protection (for all your PC's). You wouldn't have to have both PC's on at the same time, to let the second PC use the internet.

Try Avast if AVG is hogging/crashing the PC.

--Tony--

albertross wrote:

If you have got £20-40 to spare, a router is a much neater solution, the built-in firewall will give you added protection, and Netgear's come with a years free TrendMicro home security A/V protection (for all your PC's). You wouldn't have to have both PC's on at the same time, to let the second PC use the internet.

Try Avast if AVG is hogging/crashing the PC.

I'm sorry to say that wont work as the 98 can't handle trend, thats why I hope the XP will provide the 98 with AV protection meaning I wont need to load av onto the 98.

It almost certainly wont protect the 98 against email virus's but thats not a problem we wont use it for email. I just need to know if the xp will give virus protection to the 98 while general surfing and downloading.

albertross_2

I don't know the answer to your question for sure, but my gut feeling is that I doubt that it will provide any protection.. ICS is just forwarding packets to your 98 PC, the resulting files should never become resident in ram or saved to the XP hd, so the AV won't kick in.

I haven't used AVG recently, it always seemed a littled bloated to me, but Avast certainly works on 98, on an old PC, with little if any noticeable overhead.

A router still gives added benefits, with or without Trend.

--Tony--

Thanks I will take a look at Avast.

Its the computer spec thats more of a problem than the 98.

I think its a pentium 166 (but not sure of processor) most AV require pentium 200 some now say pentium III

--Tony--

Looks like Avast will be better:

For a computer running Windows® 95/98/Me:
486 Processor, 32MB RAM and 50MB of free hard disk space.

Not free though :-(