instant messaging

[Drenner]

I have four pc's networked together through a DSL\Cable router. All are running win 98se. I would like to be able to send messages to people on the other pc's were as it would just pop up on their screen or something like that. Is there a way to do this? Maybe a program to download?

[mattg2k4]

A simple way to do this is with the net send command from the command prompt.

The syntax is "net send computername message" where computername is the name of the computer to recieve the message on the network, and message is the text you wish to transmit. If like me you only do the occasional message sending, this method ought to suffice.

Be sure you don't try this command out at school though, some people have accidentally sent messages to every computer on their districts network on accident

**Edit

I reread your post and you said that all the computers use win 98se, which I believe does not support that command. Only 2k and up support it I believe.

[LawyerRon]

You can "chat" over your network with NetMeeting, which is included with 98SE.

[homer15]

also, there are lots of chat programs you can download. lanchat is a good one.

[Mac Medic]

you can get a number of gui interfaces for "net send" (messenger service) to aid you.

[glc]

With 98SE, you can use Winpopup, this is the simplest way. It comes with Windows, look for winpopup.exe and put a shortcut set to run minimized in the startup.

[Drenner]

Thanks for the info everyone. Winpopup seems to be the simple little program I was looking for. Works great for my home network.