I had the same problem and even now I don't know why it worked in the end
but it did.
If you have any form of fire-wall, Zone Alarm etc disable it first.
If your pcs run on Windows XP this is exactly what I did and it worked -
just hope it does for you!
Home Network Installation:
· Decide which machine is going to be the 'host' computer.
· Turn both machines on
· When they have booted up connect the 'host' machine to the
Internet
· Now place the Windows XP disc in the CD drive and wait for it to
load
· Choose 'Perform Additional Tasks'
· Choose 'Set up home or small office networking'
· Follow the instructions on the screen designating the machine as
the host (i.e. you want to connect to the internet with this machine and
share the connection with others.)
· When the moving computer has finished setting up you will find,
annoyingly, that you get back to the first screen again so check the bottom
box and finish.
· Now go to the 'client' machine and insert the Windows XP CD and
then repeat the process outlined above. This time choose the second option
that you want to connect to the Internet through the 'host' machine.
· When you have finished re-boot both machines start with the Host
then while that is rebooting, reboot the Client.
Have a look on the Start Menu - Connect to - Show all connections, with an
luck you will see both a LAN connection (Check it says 'enabled') and on
the client machine you should find a new Internet connection e.g. UKonline
on COMPAQ
Right-click the LAN connection and choose 'properties'. Put a tick in the
box at the bottom which says: 'Show icon in notification area when connected
'. Now click on the 'Advanced' tab and make sure there is no tick in the
'Protect my computer ..' firewall box.
Right-click the Shared Internet connection and choose 'properties'. Put a
tick in the box at the bottom which says: 'Show icon in notification area
when connected'.
Lastly have a look in the 'My Network Places'. Double click on 'Entire
Network' then 'Microsoft Windows Network' in the middle then MS-home and if
all is well you will see both of your computers there.
Finally double click on the machine you see which is not the one you are
using at the time to see if you can 'see' its files. You should also see
all the printers on the network as well.
Outlook Express:
In Tools, Accounts, Connection Tab you need to make sure that you do not
specify a particular connection - i.e. take the tick out of the box. Check
also that you have the instructions you personally want regarding when the
machine can dialup.
Internet Explorer:
In Tools, Accounts, Connection Tab you need to make sure that you do not
have any checks in the boxes.
