Networking XP (Pro) and 98(SE)

[Cerridwen]

I've been tearing my hair out with this all evening. Thanks to Kony for
getting my P3 box up and running, I now want to network them. Said box is
now running 98, and I want to network it to my system. When they were both
running XP, it worked no problem. But, I have decided to turn the P3 into a
retro gaming box, so I installed 98. Now they're not speaking to each
other - I have run the Network Setup Wizard on both systems until I'm blue
in the face, they both have o/b NICs and are connected by a CAT5 crossover
cable - and they both have static IPs. Please bear in mind that I'm a
complete neophyte when it comes to networking and cannot go much beyond
setting bog standard static IPs (just the usual 192.168.0.x). I've tried
pinging and they're both sulking!

OK, partially disregard the above. The 98 box is talking to the XP box and I
can access the XP box from the 98 box fine. The odd thing is, when I ping
the 98 box from the XP box the results are rather odd - every result is
0ms(min/max/ave)! If it can ping it (there is no packet loss) then why can't
I access it from my system?!

I cannot afford to spend any money on new cards/routers/switch boxes or
anything else (I was going to buy a KVM switch - but the cheapest I could
find was £120!). It would be useful to have to save swapping boards and mice
all the time (the 'V' isn't so important as the monitor is dual output
anyway), but not at that price!

I have just run the XP NSW on the 98 box again and it errored out (cannot
complete the NSW).

What do I have to do to enable the XP box to talk to the 98?! In desperation
I even installed NetBEUI (which is unsupported under XP) but I had to remove
it as XP BSOD'ed.


HELP!!

 

[Cerridwen]

I've been tearing my hair out with this all evening. Thanks to Kony
for getting my P3 box up and running, I now want to network them.
Said box is now running 98, and I want to network it to my system.
When they were both running XP, it worked no problem. But, I have
decided to turn the P3 into a retro gaming box, so I installed 98.
Now they're not speaking to each
other - I have run the Network Setup Wizard on both systems until I'm
blue in the face, they both have o/b NICs and are connected by a CAT5
crossover cable - and they both have static IPs. Please bear in mind
that I'm a complete neophyte when it comes to networking and cannot
go much beyond setting bog standard static IPs (just the usual
192.168.0.x). I've tried pinging and they're both sulking!

OK, partially disregard the above. The 98 box is talking to the XP
box and I can access the XP box from the 98 box fine. The odd thing
is, when I ping the 98 box from the XP box the results are rather odd
- every result is 0ms(min/max/ave)! If it can ping it (there is no
packet loss) then why can't I access it from my system?!

I cannot afford to spend any money on new cards/routers/switch boxes
or anything else (I was going to buy a KVM switch - but the cheapest
I could find was £120!). It would be useful to have to save swapping
boards and mice all the time (the 'V' isn't so important as the
monitor is dual output anyway), but not at that price!

I have just run the XP NSW on the 98 box again and it errored out
(cannot complete the NSW).

What do I have to do to enable the XP box to talk to the 98?! In
desperation I even installed NetBEUI (which is unsupported under XP)
but I had to remove it as XP BSOD'ed.


HELP!!

Scrub that - now the 98 system isn't talking to the XP!! GRR!! I just want a
simple P2P network! It ain't rocket science!


ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

 

[Lewis Waugh]

Alo. Just a few Q's first :

What version of XP? (Home or Pro)
Are you logging on as the same user on both computers?
Are you using passwords or no password?
Do you have a firewall set on the NIC on the XP box?
Have you tested your X-cable or tried with a hub/switch or another cable?

Let us know.
Regards
Lewis

 

[jona]

Scrub that - now the 98 system isn't talking to the XP!! GRR!! I just want a
simple P2P network! It ain't rocket science!

I've been through this dilemma many times and somehow have never
documented a step by step way to do it right first time. That's mainly
because I never get it right first time .... There are a few things you
don't mention like wireless? ICS?, but assuming you're familiar with
all the standard networking protocols and settings, here are some tips .....

a) Though XP doesn't prompt you to, reboot it to secure changed settings.
It's a schlepp but on more than one occasion the plan came together
after that. Esp when working wireless.
b) Don't bother with the network diskette either OS recommends you need
to install on the other machine.
c) If you've lost track of all the back and forth settings, pinging, etc,
etc,
dump both networks and start from scratch. Do the XP box first and then
set the 98 box to 'auto IP address'.

I have a XP, 2K & 98SE network setup at home so if you need specific
settings feel free to email me.

Cheers

 

[Lewis Waugh]

Another Q is have you set manually the speed/duplex of both nics so they
match
Preferably speed 100 and full duplex.

 

[Cerridwen]

I've been through this dilemma many times and somehow have never
documented a step by step way to do it right first time. That's mainly
because I never get it right first time .... There are a few things
you don't mention like wireless? ICS?, but assuming you're familiar
with
all the standard networking protocols and settings, here are some
tips .....

a) Though XP doesn't prompt you to, reboot it to secure changed
settings. It's a schlepp but on more than one occasion the plan came
together
after that. Esp when working wireless.
b) Don't bother with the network diskette either OS recommends you
need
to install on the other machine.
c) If you've lost track of all the back and forth settings, pinging,
etc, etc,
dump both networks and start from scratch. Do the XP box first and
then
set the 98 box to 'auto IP address'.

I have a XP, 2K & 98SE network setup at home so if you need specific
settings feel free to email me.

Cheers

Erm, on-board NICs and a crossover cable - what does that tell you? ;o)

How do I start over - you mean uninstall both cards and reinstall? I really
do need an idiot's guide - as I said, I'm a complete neophyte when it comes
to networking. Even more so as my head is completely clogged up with the
worst cold in living memory!

There was one issue I did have with setting an auto IP under XP, and that
was it would hang for anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes at logon - obviously
attempting to negotiate a mutually agreeable protocol. Also, if I clicked on
'show network connections' it would take almost the same length of time to
show me the connected computers, so I could access the drives. The odd thing
was, if I mapped the drives I could access them as easily as if they were
local.

I would, obviously, like to have a flawless network with no lags - the
machines are capable. Mine is a P4 3.2 HT, 1GB RAM and 400GB and the other
is a P3 with 256MB and 40GB.

Any more hints would be most gratefully received!

Thanks

 

[Cerridwen]

Alo. Just a few Q's first :

What version of XP? (Home or Pro)

I don't mean to appear rude but, had you read the subject, this question
would have been unnecessary.

Are you logging on as the same user on both computers?
Yep

Are you using passwords or no password?
None.

Do you have a firewall set on the NIC on the XP box?

Yes, but I've uninstalled it and the problem persists.

Have you tested your X-cable or tried with a hub/switch or another
cable?

There is nothing wrong with the cable - it worked (almost) flawlessly when
both ran XP - apart from the lags.

 

[Cerridwen]

Another Q is have you set manually the speed/duplex of both nics so
they match
Preferably speed 100 and full duplex.

Yep.

 

[jona]

Erm, on-board NICs and a crossover cable - what does that tell you? ;o)

Any more hints would be most gratefully received!

<Fairly off topic stuff taken to private mail>

 

[Lewis Waugh]

You are right. I probably should read the subject too.

When using XP on the network without passwords you need to go to
administration tools, select local security policy, Local Policies ,
Security Options
and Disable the following
Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords

Or you could try using passwords for your logons.

Remove Netbui etc. All u need is tcpip.
Check you ips and mask are ok.
Check firewalls are disabled on nics.
Now try pinging each machine.

Good luck

 

[notritenotteri]

my guess is your caught up in the "security "issues of Xp or you don't
have networking installed at either end correctly You need to run as
an administrator on XP and set shares etc. I don't know about 98
though any reports I've heard say bury it as fast as you can. I've
run Xp to 95 but it took a while to set up the software to have them
to talk to each other.

 

[bearman]

my guess is your caught up in the "security "issues of Xp or you don't
have networking installed at either end correctly You need to run as
an administrator on XP and set shares etc. I don't know about 98
though any reports I've heard say bury it as fast as you can. I've
run Xp to 95 but it took a while to set up the software to have them
to talk to each other.

Setting up my network was severely hampered by a Zone Alarm setting.
Disabled Zone Alarm and it worked. Then re-enabled ZA and set the thing to
see the other computer.

Bearman

 

[notritenotteri]

You can jiggle ZA to allow communications you just have to feed it the
IP address of the other guy(s). ZA will also prevent you from sharing
printers, Cameras etc etc if its not set right.
LOL