network newbie

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I’m running three computers in a home office setting and want to network the three with the possibility of adding a fourth computer within a year’s time and stand in need of the wisdom/experience of the Lounge. A dear seminary professor once said, “Ain’t none of us as smart as all of us.” So here goes…

Two desktop systems run Win98se and WinMe while the laptop runs Win2k. I have a hub, RJ45 cables/clips, and network cards for each system.

I have been advised to go Control Panel | Network | Identification and make sure each computer has a different name *but* the same workgroup name… under Configuration, I’m told, I should be set to ‘Windows logon’ and under ‘File/Printer Sharing’ I should have yes checked/ticked… Services and Protocols should include MS NETBEUI along with Client for MS Networks.

First, is there something I’ve overlooked?

Second, will the laptop be able to access the CDRW that is installed in one of the desktops? I presume there’s a way to ‘share’ that, too?

Third, any additional advice/suggestions/ warnings will be greatly appreciated!

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A few tips:

1. Make sure that the workgroup name is EXACTLY the same on each machine.

2. Each directory or disk must be shared. If you are using a home office network then security between users is probably not a consideration – so, from Windows Explorer right click on the root directory of each disk and click on the “sharing” tab. Click “Shared As” and then give the disk a name. Give full access and don’t worry about using a password.

3. I have no experience with CDRW but I’d guess that it is shared in the same way.

If one of the machines on the network is also connected to the Internet then there are security concerns that you should be aware of. Let’s know if that is the case and we can take it further.

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Thanks for the tips, John… all three (eventually four) machines will have an Internet connection and, yes, I would appreciate knowing how to go about setting up a shared connection, particularly with the security concerns.

Thanks

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Firstly, I suggest that you go to Steve Gibson’s Shields Up!site which will do two things. It will test the resistance of your set up to intrusion and provide a report. The site also provides detailed advice on how to increase the resilience of your setup against hacking.

Secondly, install a firewall which will give you control over what comes in from the Internet and what goes out. One popular firewall is Zonealarm which is relatively easy to cofigure. It is also free for personal use.

Thirdly, I presume that you already have a virus scanner installed but if not, do it NOW. Update the virus definition files at least once a week to keep the latest nasties out.

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Three good suggestions well heeded… sure do appreciate your insight!

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Glad to help. Let’s know how it turns out.

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Sure will… am running Norton AV 2000 and will go through Shields Up and Zone Alarm once things fall into place (?)

When I meet more challenges, I know where to go
Thanks again!

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Make sure file and printer sharing is not enabled for the adapters on each computer that are accessing the Internet. An excellent resource for this is http://www.grc.com which will also test your Internet connection for basic security holes.

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Wow, you got me on that one… if all of the computers can access the Internet, then does that mean there should be no file/printer sharing at all, or am I overlooking the trees for the forest?

Thanks for your help… I’ll check http://www.grc.com[/url%5D to see what’s there.

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Well, at least now I won’t try that stunt!
I presume, then, I can transfer data from the laptop to the desktop HDD then to the CDRW?

Thanks for the tip!

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If you’re working from the Desktop PC with the CDRW, and the data on the Laptop is in a shared folder, you should be able to do a direct write from the Laptop to the CDRW, using the Desktop PC as the interface…. I.E. sitting at the desktop, copying from a mapped drive.

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Well, now… that’s another way to stand on the desk and see things differently!

Sure hope I’ll be able to give as much helpful information as I’ve been rec’g! Boatloads of thanks now and forevermore!

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Thanks for two great tips! I’ll get the hang of this yet

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Thanks for the insight on that one… right now I’m stuck with an analog line but have aspirations to move to an ISDN within a year’s time.

All of the computers are PC, FWIW

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Oh… I see
Thanks for the insight!

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True…I tend to forget about those little problems, when I normally deal with a larger network, with several multi-processor servers, and 100MB connection speeds…

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Looks great – thanks!

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You and me both, Norma

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Back to my original challenge… I’ve been at this for about a week now and have followed some real good teaching from the Lounge but still cannot get the machines to recognize one another (or each other, for that matter

If anybody can give a quick rundown of “Networking for Dummies 1-2-3” I would be beyond grateful!

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Scott,
Can you give a little more detail.
How are they not recognizing each other?
Does each have a unique IP address? (check this by entering WINIPCFG at start->Run)
Can you ping the other machines? (open a Command Prompt, enter PING 192.168.1.100 ‘replace with the IP you want to ping’)

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http://www.wopr.com/cgi-bin/w3t/showthread…=&vc=1#Post9964%5B/url%5D
The above link should take us to my original post but, to answer your questions, they’re not recognizing each other in the sense that neither computer shows the other’s existence in Network Neighborhood.

I ran the WINIPCFG from Start> Run and came up with an Adapter Address for the 3Com 3C90x Ethernet Adapter as well as an IP Autoconfiguration Address plus a Subnet Mask.

The Win2k IBM ThinkPAd said it couldn’t find the winipcfg file or one of its components, so we may have found something (?)

And I’m 404 on how to ping another machine

Go easy, man, I’m still learning

Looks like I may get to the end of this yet, eh?

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Sorry, I missed one of your machines was Win2k

For Win2k, do the following:
Go to START, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, COMMAND PROMPT. This will open a DOS window, where you see the C:> prompt, type:
IPCONFIG then press enter. Write down the IP Address.

Do the same from each machine (use the previous WINIPCFG for 98/ME). Once you have the IP address from all 3, on each one, open a command prompt (Start->Programs->Command Prompt for 98), and at the C:> prompt, type:

Ping 198.1.100.1 (replacing with the IP Address one of the other machines. Do it for each of the other two, and do it from each machine. If you get a timeout error, then the machines were unable to “talk” to each other. If you get a list of connect times, they could talk. If they are all able to ping each other, then there is a setting that is wrong somewhere, and it can be tracked down. If the ping does not work, then there is a Basic network setup/card issue. Once you have the results, post them, and it will help guide you further.

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I love baseball and met my match with the three machines… 1… 2… 3 strikes, I was out

All three reported [indent]

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Destination host unknown

---

[/indent]

But, hey, I’ve got two more outs to go!

What should I do next?

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Things to check
1. All machines are running TCP/IP bound to their internal network adapters
2. Each machine has its own IP number (192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, etc) but they have the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0).
3. Reboot all the machines.
4. Open the command prompt then ping the other machines (eg from the machine 192.168.1.1 type c:>ping 192.168.1.2, then do the same to .3)
5. If you do not get a response between the machines check your network is live. Are there any lights lit on the network card?
6. If there are any lights on the network card or hub try pinging again but use -t after the ip address. This will mean the machine keeps pinging until you tell it to stop. Change the hub ports that the computers are wired to and change the cables. Do any lights light up above the ports on the hub?

If you are getting no lights coming on above the ports on the hub then you have a hardware problem.

Sorry to sound patronising, but you are using cat5 cable and the hub is turned on? I once spent four hours troubleshooting a dead network only to find the cleaner had unplugged the hub.

Finding the answer to this sort of problem is a matter of elimination. Try those and see if they solve your problem. If it doesn’t post again.

Cheers

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Thanks for not looking over the obvious for me
1. All machines are running TCP/IP bound to their internal network adapters
= How would I know this for sure?

2. Each machine has its own IP number (192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, etc) but they have the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0).
= I think I’ve found this as mentioned in a previous post.

3. Reboot all the machines.
4. Open the command prompt then ping the other machines (eg from the machine 192.168.1.1 type c:>ping 192.168.1.2, then do the same to .3)
5. If you do not get a response between the machines check your network is live. Are there any lights lit on the network card?
= No lights on internal cards, but the hub has lights showing.

6. If there are any lights on the network card or hub try pinging again but use -t after the ip address. This will mean the machine keeps pinging until you tell it to stop. Change the hub ports that the computers are wired to and change the cables. Do any lights light up above the ports on the hub?
= Destination host unreachable

>you are using cat5 cable and the hub is turned on?
= Yes to both.

We’ll get it solved soon!

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From machine 192.168.1.1 run the command “ping 192.168.1.2 -t”. Somewhere on your hub, it varies by model, you should have a data light and possible a network utilisation bar. Are any of these lights rapidly flashing while the ping command is running? Are any lights rapidly flashing on the back of the network card?

Try pinging each machine from each other and see what combinations (if any) work.

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Strange…
[indent]

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Request timed out

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[/indent]

No light action on the hub… I have no lights on the network cards, especially the PCMCIA IBM ThinkPad card. The desktop cards are PCI.

Am I in trouble?

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Sorry to butt in, but just a thought:
You aren’t using cross-over cables, by any chance?
Hold the two connectors side by side, same orientation and pointing the same way.
The order of the colours of the cores should be the same left to right.

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No, I’m not. Are cross-over cables a different brand from the cat5/RJ45 things I’m using?

The colors appear to be the same and, hey, I like this thinking out of the box

Mr. Keating from Dead Poets Society would be proud.

Thanks for the response! I’m learning more than I thought I would

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He would indeed!
Cross-overs are used for connecting one PC direct to another without a hub, so pin 1 goes to pin 8 etc.

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Thanks for the insight! I’ll remember that when I do a ‘direct-cable connection’ (I think…?)

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This is the normal way to get rid of the “pre-dial” screen:
Go to Dial-Up Networking, right click the connectiod(your specific dial up connection) and select ‘Properties’, click the ‘Scripting’ tab, if there is a script listed, make sure you check the ‘minimized’ area. Then click the ‘Configure…’ button, click the ‘Options’ tab, remove the check mark from the ‘Bring up terminal window before dialing’ box, and ‘OK’ your way out.

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Thanks, Ian… those were two super sites.

You know, it should seem that all should flush properly, but I can’t figure the missing piece.

Once it clicks, wow, watch out!

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