Setting up my Home network

[Sam]

I am attmepting to setup a network in my home connecting
my new Dell dimension 2400 (Pentium 4) Windows XP Home
and my old Gateway (Pentium II) with Windows 98 SE (an
upgrade to Windows 95) with a Type 5 (twisted) network
cable. I am able to "talk" ( share files) to the Gateway
from the Dell but the Gateway will not talk to the Dell.
I have run the Network setup wizard on the Gateway both
from the CD and from a floppy. I get no response
indicating that the setup didn't work and no indication
that it does.

Do I need a hub or switch? Do I need a "straight" cable?
Am I doomed to fail because of the age of my Gateway?

Thanks for any tips...SAM

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

I am attmepting to setup a network in my home connecting
my new Dell dimension 2400 (Pentium 4) Windows XP Home
and my old Gateway (Pentium II) with Windows 98 SE (an
upgrade to Windows 95) with a Type 5 (twisted) network
cable. I am able to "talk" ( share files) to the Gateway
from the Dell but the Gateway will not talk to the Dell.
I have run the Network setup wizard on the Gateway both
from the CD and from a floppy. I get no response
indicating that the setup didn't work and no indication
that it does.

Do I need a hub or switch? Do I need a "straight" cable?
Am I doomed to fail because of the age of my Gateway?

Sam,

for more than two computers you need a switch anyway, so why not
buy one? They're cheap these days.

With a switch you need "straight-thru" cables, often called
patch cables, of Cat. 5 quality. Without a switch you need a
special crossover cable, but this would work only for two
computers.

For further information about possible software setup problems
please have a look at http://www.michna.com/kb/WxNetwork.htm.

Hans-Georg

 

[ugly]

Yes i know exactly what you mean, i have 2 old win98
machines networking to my laptop running win xp home.
(thru a hub worked fine, and also direct twisted cable) you
dont need a hub to connect another computer to yours, only
if you go over 1 other computer do you need a hub.

I use to have it working perfectly, but i did something and
now only one win98 machine is connecting to my laptop.

I've tried everything to get it to work again.

I'm currectly looking for something that will reset my
shares, the reason is that when i uninstall the nic card
and and all references to the network on the 98 machine,
then i reinstall everything then my old shares popup, They
shouldn't be there.

Anyway i'm still looking for a solution, it worked once, it
will again.

Cheers...

 

[Bob Willard]

I am attmepting to setup a network in my home connecting
my new Dell dimension 2400 (Pentium 4) Windows XP Home
and my old Gateway (Pentium II) with Windows 98 SE (an
upgrade to Windows 95) with a Type 5 (twisted) network
cable. I am able to "talk" ( share files) to the Gateway
from the Dell but the Gateway will not talk to the Dell.
I have run the Network setup wizard on the Gateway both
from the CD and from a floppy. I get no response
indicating that the setup didn't work and no indication
that it does.

Do I need a hub or switch? Do I need a "straight" cable?
Am I doomed to fail because of the age of my Gateway?

Thanks for any tips...SAM

If you can share files in either direction then your hardware
(and low-level software) is OK. If you can only share in one
direction it might be due to firewall software (XP's ICF will
inhibit F&P sharing), or it might be due to incorrect file
access permissions on the XP PC.

The two standard ways to get around file access permission
problems on XP PCs are: (1) enable the Guest account without
a password (probably not a good idea if your PCs are visible
on the 'net), and (2) create an account of the XP box with
the same credentials (username & PW) as used on the W9x PC.
Either way, make sure the designated account (Guest or W9xUser)
has access permission for the folders to be shared. And,
obviously, share a folder on the XP PC -- something other than
the root (C folder, and something with a short/simple name.