Setting up a 2 PC network

[AndyWatkins]

Hi,

I am buying a 2nd PC so that I can set up a home network. Current PC is a 400mhz Pentium 2 with 1st edition Win 98 on it. New PC will be a 1.4 DDR Athlon with 2nd edition 98 on it. (don't trust ME).

I am in the UK, and can purchase 2 cheap ethernet cards and connecting cable for £25. No hub necessary as I understand it. As my printers, scanners etc don't have network cards in them I don't believe there is any point in having a hub?

I do also have an iMac (my wife's), but have no idea if you can connect iMacs to PC's.

Question is :-

How do I install a network between these two PC's, does it matter they are different versions of operating systems?

Ta very much

Andy Watkins

[Xayd]

Yes you can connect the Mac to the PCs with a little configuration.

Yes it would be preferable to have a hub, you can still share printers and scanners with them attached to one of the machines on your network as long as the host machine is turned on and the OS running. Plus with a hub all three can be on the same network together.

No it doesn't matter that they're different OS versions.

The easiest way to get them all working would be to install the NetBEUI protocol drivers on each machine, and file/print sharing on each machine. Give them each a unique host name and put them all in the same Workgroup under network properties and everything should work.

As far as the Mac goes, maybe someone else will have specifics, hehe. I know how to get a Mac online and troubleshoot basic TCP/IP issues with them related to 'net connectivity, but not sure what's involved in getting one on a peer to peer NetBEUI network, or even if it can be done? Anyone?

Xayd

[AndyWatkins]

Xayd,

Thanks for reply, I've seen a similar package somewhere for only UK £30 that includes a 4 port hub, I think I should go for that.

My main concern is within the Windows operating systems itself, how do you set up a network, is there a "Baby's first network" wizard, or something? Do you go into control panel, network, add a network, or something like that??

Netbui sounds great, will that be on my machine allready, on Win 98 CD or downloadable from someone?

When I've obtained it, which application do I run to install it, configure it etc.

I'm not really quite as thick as I sound! I have worked in IT for nearly 20 years, but on application development, not network installation support, to me it's all a pile of funny wires that don't work very often. I thought I should educate myself, and how better than actually setting one up.

I suspect that like many things it's quite easy.... once you know how!

Thanks

Andy

[glc]

Install your network cards and take all defaults.

Open the Networks applet in control panel. Go to the Identification tab and assign each machine a unique name and the SAME workgroup name. Then go to the components window and make sure you have the following (ADD if necessary)

Client: Client for Microsoft Networks (if you have to add, mfr is MS)
Adapter: Your network card (if you have a modem, Dialup Adapter should be here too)
Protocol: NetBeui (if you have to add, mfr is MS)

If you have a dialup adapter, TCP/IP will also be listed, maybe twice. Note that each instance of TCP/IP (and NetBeui when it's added) is bound (pointing) to a different adapter. The only binding you want for NetBeui is to your network adapter. The only bindings you want for TCP/IP are to dialup adapters. Remove excess.

Click on the file and print sharing button and check the 2 boxes for sharing.

Remove excess stuff, such as Microsoft Family Logon, Client for Netware, IPX/SPX, etc.

Close the windows and let files copy. Unless your cab files are on the hard drive, you will need your Windows CD. If prompted, keep all newer files. Before you restart the computer, delete all .pwl files in the windows directory.

On restart, it should come up to a username/password window. Put any username in and leave the password blank. Confirm the blank password if asked (If you WANT a password, you can of course use one). Then go into networks again (or right click on Network Neighborhood and select Properties) and in the components list double click on each instance of TCP/IP (there should only be TCP/IP on dialup adapters if you followed the previous instructions), go to the Bindings tab, and UNcheck file and print sharing. Ignore any warnings, close out, let more files copy, and reboot.

Now - you need to share resources. To share drives and/or folders, you just go into My Computer and right click on the resource you want to share and select Sharing. To share a printer, same deal - in the Printers folder right click on the printer and select Sharing. Reboot again and now we test it.

Open Network Neighborhood and you should see 3 entries.....Entire network, Computer 1, and Computer 2 (Actually it will be the names you gave them in Identification). If you don't see all 3, close, wait 1 minute, and try again. If you still don't see both, reboot both computers and leave them both at the login screen - and when both are there, THEN log them on and wait 1 minute, then try Network neighborhood again. Double click on the other computer in there and you should see all shares and be able to access them. If you want to print to the shared printer on the other machine, just find the printer share in Network Neighborhood and right click on it - and select Install.

Once you get this going and get some experience, then you can think about doing more, such as mapping drives and sharing an Internet connection.

[AndyWatkins]

GLC,

Thanks very much for the info, that sounds exactly like what I wanted to know. Will shortly gewt all the cards, cables etc and give it a try. Let you know in a couple of weeks how it went!

Andy