How to set up a home network?

The homenethelp site is, in my opinion, the best site available to set up a network.  Using Windows network setup Wizard usually works, but sometimes creates problems.  What network adapters are installed on both machines?  Are you sure that XP firewall is disabled on both machines?  Have you designated drives or folders on both machines as shared resources?  If you could provide some more details or symptoms of the problem you are having it would be most useful.  Just saying it doesn't work doesn't give us much to go on.

Steve

Also, my the cable modem is plugged into the back of the router, and then a cable runs out from the router to both computers.  I've also read that the router I have has an "Advanced Firewall" built in.  Would that have anything to do with it?  I was also wondering, what is the difference between a router and a hub?  Is one better than the other for homenetworking?

I'm sure that on both computers, the firewall is disabled.  And I do have a folder that is shared.  I think the problem is the communication between the two computers;  I don't think they are communicating at all.  I can't "see" his computer on mine, and vice versa.  I've also searched for his computer using his computer name and it comes up with nothing, even though the workgroup name is the same on both computers.  Is there anything else that you need to know?   

 

David

I can offer one additional thing to try. I had similar problems and just deleted and re-entered the computer names and workgroups.

 

Steve I have a question for you. I have a Network Bridge and even though it is disabled, I cannot seem to delete it.  I have also been having a problem with several programs that use the internet. They continually tell my that they are unable to detect an internet connection. I get this when I try to use Windows Media Player and Quicken 2004.

Your router not only routes the internet connection to allow you to share the internet connection, it also has a switch, which is an intelligent hub.  The switch is what allows you to network the computers together.  A hub will provide the same function, but it is less efficient than a switch and would not allow you share the internet connection without using internet connection sharing software.  Thus, the router is the best device for what you want to do.  If you look at the network protocols installed on both computers, is the TCP/IP protocol the only protocol installed?  Is there a network bridge connection listed?  If so, delete the network bridge.  Do you get any error messages when you try to browse the network or search for a comptuer on the network?  If so, what is the exact text of the error message?  Are you sure the XP built-in firewall is not enabled on either computer?  Are you sure there are no other software firewalls installed on either computer? The firewall built into the router should not be having an effect on peer to peer networking. 

Steve

I feel so stupid.  I had Norton Internet Security (NIS) running, so it wouldn't work.  Thanks for the help volcano.  But now, I have another question:  Is there a way to allow the NIS to run, while still allowing the connection between the two computers?

thebrain_16,

NIS employs a concept called the "Trusted Zone."  You can configure NIS with the IP addresses (or an IP address range) of the PCs on your LAN.  The IP addresses in the trusted Zone will not be prohibited.  Consult the NIS Users Guide.

Thanks for the help Paladin.  I figured out how to do it.  Although now, I have one other problem.  I have a folder called "Shared Documents" that is giving me trouble.  If I access the contents of the folder through My Computer, everything works fine; I can open all the folders inside without trouble.  But, if I try to open it through My Network Places, Windows crashes.  I'd post the error, but now I'm not getting the message.  I just get the window that asks whether or not I'd like to report the error.  But from what I can recall, it was an explorer.exe error, and I had the option to "Press OK to debug"  or "Cancel to terminate the program"  Both options resulted in Windows crashing and I didn't get the chance to debug.  I can access all of the other shared folders without problems, but just this one folder is giving me trouble.  Any ideas?

thebrain_16,

Curious problem.  I don't use the SharedDocs folder, but I used Windows Explorer just now and when I navigated to the Shared Music folder within SharedDocs Windows Explorer crashed.  Windows XP continued to run.  My system is configured to create a mini-dump, write an event to the system log, send an alert, and automatically restart.  I did not receive an alert and the event log only shows informational entries regarding the IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service.  Go figure.

So I'm not much help here.  If you are getting an alert, click on the Details button to see the App Name and Mod Name.  Armed with those you may find some resolution at MSKB.