Need help setting up my business network

[Guest]

Let me first say that I have a new respect for the IT department. I recently
got promoted to a management position in a small business, and part of my job
is being the "IT Guy." I never knew how frustrating it could be to work with
people who have a VERY basic understanding of computers.

Anyway, my problem is in setting up our network. We have 3 PC's and a DSL
connection we want to link together. Two computers are 2 year old Dells.
Both are very basic on hardware, one runs XPPro and the other has XPHome. My
computer is a little junker built by a local computer shop, it runs Pro. I
have updated the Boss' computers with SP2, but it turns out that my computer
is running an illegal copy of XP which will have to be purchased before we
can upgrade it(one of the many joys of buying a computer you didn't build
yourself). We have a Netgear wired router and an Altel DSL connection. We
have the internet set up properly, each computer can access the web, but I am
having trouble setting up the file sharing network.

I did the setup wizard, chose the 5th (i think) option, "my computer
connects to the network through a gateway or hub, as do the other computers
on the netowrk." We are unable to access each others shared documents using
this setting. What is the best setting to choose, or how can we set them up?

Yes, each computer was configured using option 5 and the name "OFFICE"
Yes, all computers are connected properly, they worked using a hub before we
got the router.
Yes, this is driving me crazy

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

Let me first say that I have a new respect for the IT department. I
recently got promoted to a management position in a small business,
and part of my job is being the "IT Guy." I never knew how
frustrating it could be to work with people who have a VERY basic
understanding of computers.

Anyway, my problem is in setting up our network. We have 3 PC's and
a DSL connection we want to link together. Two computers are 2 year
old Dells. Both are very basic on hardware, one runs XPPro and the
other has XPHome. My computer is a little junker built by a local
computer shop, it runs Pro. I have updated the Boss' computers with
SP2, but it turns out that my computer is running an illegal copy of
XP which will have to be purchased before we can upgrade it(one of
the many joys of buying a computer you didn't build yourself). We
have a Netgear wired router and an Altel DSL connection. We have the
internet set up properly, each computer can access the web, but I am
having trouble setting up the file sharing network.

I did the setup wizard, chose the 5th (i think) option, "my computer
connects to the network through a gateway or hub, as do the other
computers on the netowrk." We are unable to access each others
shared documents using this setting. What is the best setting to
choose, or how can we set them up?

Yes, each computer was configured using option 5 and the name "OFFICE"
Yes, all computers are connected properly, they worked using a hub
before we got the router.
Yes, this is driving me crazy

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You don't need a wizard.

1. All computers need TCP/IP addresses in the same subnet (likely dished out
via DHCP on your Netgear)
2. All computers should connect to the switch inside the Netgear, or a
switch *connected* to the LAN port of the Netgear
3. All computers should be in the same workgroup, and have
obvious/identifiable names
4. If the Windows Firewall or another software firewall is enabled, it needs
to allow file/print sharing connections
5. All computers should have matching accounts/passwords *or* at least
contain the identical user accounts/passwords used by other computers
6. Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP in each computer's network properties

If all this is true, you should be able to ping each computer from the
other - first by IP address, then by its name

Then - you ought to be able to access shares on each computer from the
other.

I recommend that for each user account on each computer, you re-point "My
Documents" at another folder, such as c:\data\usernname ....and move all the
documents therein. You can then share your files without sharing everything
else on the hard drive. I don't like using the default profile path for user
data storage, for myriad reasons.

Note also - since you don't have a server, you have no way to do centralized
backups (or centralized anything). Some workgroup configs use a single
computer as an ersatz file server and back up *that* computer to a usb hard
drive, etc....so you don't have to do backups from each computer. Or look
into a NAS box of some sort - SnapServer, Buffalo, etc. -

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Let me first say that I have a new respect for the IT department. I recently
got promoted to a management position in a small business, and part of my job
is being the "IT Guy." I never knew how frustrating it could be to work with
people who have a VERY basic understanding of computers.

Anyway, my problem is in setting up our network. We have 3 PC's and a DSL
connection we want to link together. Two computers are 2 year old Dells.
Both are very basic on hardware, one runs XPPro and the other has XPHome. My
computer is a little junker built by a local computer shop, it runs Pro. I
have updated the Boss' computers with SP2, but it turns out that my computer
is running an illegal copy of XP which will have to be purchased before we
can upgrade it(one of the many joys of buying a computer you didn't build
yourself). We have a Netgear wired router and an Altel DSL connection. We
have the internet set up properly, each computer can access the web, but I am
having trouble setting up the file sharing network.

I did the setup wizard, chose the 5th (i think) option, "my computer
connects to the network through a gateway or hub, as do the other computers
on the netowrk." We are unable to access each others shared documents using
this setting. What is the best setting to choose, or how can we set them up?

Yes, each computer was configured using option 5 and the name "OFFICE"
Yes, all computers are connected properly, they worked using a hub before we
got the router.
Yes, this is driving me crazy

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Choose this Wizard option on all computers: "This computer connects to
the Internet through a residential gateway or through another computer
on my network." The Wizard will set up file and printer sharing. If
there's a third-party firewall program (Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm,
PC-cillin, etc), configure it to allow access by other computers on
the network.

I think you chose this option, which will block file sharing: "This
computer connects to the Internet directly or through a network hub.
Other computers on my network also connect to the Internet directly or
through a hub."
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

Thanks follks, but the problem seems to have fixed itself.