Need SPECIFIC Directions FOR How to set up a 2 computer network on WINDOWS XP Please

[Antoinette]

Aloha,

I have a very simple network, two home computers; my desktop and my laptop.
It's really simple what I want. 1) to have each computer be able to see
files from the other 2.) And to be able to print out from both computers to
the same
printer. ( I have my printer hooked up to my desktop.)

I have a router made by Netgear who told me to use the software on XP to do
this.
I have twice had a computer technician come to my house to do this for me
and I paid him.
Things were working fine for a while, now he does not want to come back to
do the same thing again. Oddly enough
this only happens after an XP update installs itself. The technician
wouldn't teach me how to do it for myself; and I want to learn. Is it as
simple as following the prompts in Windows XP for setting up a network?
Where ever do I go to even start that. Aren't there some FREE directions
SOMEWHERE that I can follow to do this myself so when it gets messed up like
this I can fix it?

AND SHOULD I delete EVERYTHING that is currently on both computers under My
Network Places
EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING I WANT IS working EXCEPT I am unable to read the
Desktop computers' two hard drives (C:/ and D:/) from the laptop.
I get a screen that tells me the Network PATH was not found. Oddly enough
this only happens after an XP update installs itself. I'm not an idiot and
I am PRETTY
computer literate, an RN so I DO feel I can learn how to do this myself if
given the directions
somewhere.
Please don't tell me to go on line and look. I was directed to do so from my
Netgear and they all want hundreds of dollars PER incident including Netgear
with no
guarantee I will have written directions should I need to do this yet again
in the future.

Thank you to anyone who has the patience to answer this and direct me so I
can learn how to do this myself. I greatly appreciate it. This is kind of
frustrating.
Antoinette

 

[Malke]

Aloha,

I have a very simple network, two home computers; my desktop and my
laptop.
It's really simple what I want. 1) to have each computer be able to
see files from the other 2.) And to be able to print out from both
computers to the same
printer. ( I have my printer hooked up to my desktop.)

I have a router made by Netgear who told me to use the software on XP
to do this. (snippage)

AND SHOULD I delete EVERYTHING that is currently on both computers
under My Network Places
EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING I WANT IS working EXCEPT I am unable to read
the Desktop computers' two hard drives (C:/ and D:/) from the laptop.
I get a screen that tells me the Network PATH was not found. Oddly
enough
this only happens after an XP update installs itself.

(more snippage)

Please don't multipost and pepper various newsgroups with many posts
about the same subject. Crosspost judiciously if you must with a
followup set, and keep questions about one subject in one thread. Since
you don't want url's, you can Google those terms yourself if you don't
understand them.

1. With both computers turned on, run the Network Setup Wizard.
2. If you have a third-party firewall installed, make sure you have
disabled the Windows Firewall if you have XPSP2. The Network Setup
Wizard will enable it.
3. Configure whatever firewall you have on both machines to allow the
lan as trusted.
4. Share out desired resources.
5. Make sure both machines are set to get an IP address and DNS
automatically.

If both machines are not the same version of XP (Home/Pro), then please
post back with that information along with the service pack level of
both.

Malke

 

[Antoinette]

I am new at this, sorry for not following the directions. But THANK YOU for
your SIMPLE response. This is just what I needed to get started I think.
Both of my computers are new and both run XP home and BOTH have SP2.

One thing you did not address if you don't mind before I do what you say.
SHOULD I delete that which is ALREADY on here and working in the My Network
Places? Or just do what you said from the way things are??

Everything working OK except the Path is not right for seeing the files on
the desktop from the laptop.

Thank you for you time in this matter.
Yours most sincerely,
Antoinette

 

[Malke]

I am new at this, sorry for not following the directions. But THANK
YOU for
your SIMPLE response. This is just what I needed to get started I
think. Both of my computers are new and both run XP home and BOTH have
SP2.

One thing you did not address if you don't mind before I do what you
say.
SHOULD I delete that which is ALREADY on here and working in the My
Network
Places? Or just do what you said from the way things are??

Everything working OK except the Path is not right for seeing the
files on the desktop from the laptop.

Yeah, let's be clean about it. Right-click any entries in Network Places
and delete them. Unshare any drives. Now you're starting from a clean
slate. Make sure each machine has a unique machine name. Don't name
your machines the same name as a user account. IOW, if you have a user
account "Antoinette", don't name the computer "Antoinette". You name
your machine from the System applet in Control Panel. Click on the
Computer Name tab. Since you have a router, make sure both machines are
set to get their IP address and DNS automatically (probably they
already are set this way).

1. With both machines on, run the Network Setup Wizard. You don't need
to copy files to a usb drive. Just run the Wizard on both machines.
Reboot both machines.

2. Make the shares you want on both machines.

3. Remember what I said about the firewall - the Wizard will enable the
Windows SP2 Firewall but it will ask you during the process if you want
to enable file and printer sharing. Of course you are going to say
"yes".

4. If you have a third-party firewall (not Windows Firewall) you will
need to go to the Windows Firewall applet in Control Panel and disable
the WF. Then you will need to open whatever third-party firewall you
have and configure it to allow the Local Area Network (lan) as trusted.
How you do this will depend on what firewall you have. If you have a
third-party firewall, let me know if you have difficulties.

5. One "gotcha" is if you have something like Norton Antivirus 2005. NAV
2005 has an "Internet Worm Protection" which is a firewall of sorts. So
you may think you don't have a third-party firewall but NAV will be
interfering. I don't know if you can configure it or not, but since you
may not have it the point is moot at this time.

6. Go have a drink or cup of tea or whatever works for you for about 15
minutes. When you come back, you should be able to see both computers
and the shares you made in Network Places.

Malke