XP Networking

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Guest

Important for respondent to understand this is from a 75 year old novice.
1. Does both computers have to have the printer software installed on each
computer.
2.Do both computers have to go through the process of networking or only the
computer connected to the PC.
3. Finally does it make a difference that one computer has XP and other XP
pro.
Thank you for your patience for what I know seems quite basic.
 
Retired said:
Important for respondent to understand this is from a 75 year old novice.
1. Does both computers have to have the printer software installed on each
computer.
2.Do both computers have to go through the process of networking or only the
computer connected to the PC.
3. Finally does it make a difference that one computer has XP and other XP
pro.
Thank you for your patience for what I know seems quite basic.
Click to expand...

I assume that what you are trying to do is set up a Local Area Network
(lan) so both computers can share printers and possibly files. First you
need to set up your lan. See the generic steps below. As for the
printer, it depends on the printer so read its manual (or go to its
support website) for networking. Most HP printers for instance need at
least the driver installed on the remote machine from the HP cd.

Take it slowly, methodically, one step at a time and you'll be fine.

Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will
turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like
Norton 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters
in your situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm


Malke
 
Retired Chef said:
1. Do both computers have to have the printer software installed on each
computer. ?
Click to expand...

Actually in most cases no, provided the host computer has the driver the
client computer can usually 'pull it across' the network onto itself.

In a few cases this doesn't work (multifunction scan/copy/fax units are a
typical case) if so you need to manually install the driver on the client
computer, then change the port to point at the host computer.
2.Do both computers have to go through the process of networking ?
Click to expand...

Yes. Both computers must have an IP address, in the same range. (subnet)
It's possible they may already have IP addresses. Typing:

IPCONFIG /ALL

into a commandprompt will give you the info.
(To open a commandprompt press Run... and enter 'cmd')

If you're not au-fait with IP addresses there are plenty webpages explaining
this aspect. It's not in any case necessary to understand all of the
intricacies, just how to ensure the IPs are in the same range. If the
computers already have IP addresses set, then DON'T be tempted to change them
or run Network Wizards, etc as you may then lose other services, for example
your Internet connection.

Once you've sorted this out , share the printer on the host computer.
(Right-click the printer icon and select 'sharing')

On the client computer, either search in Network Places (which is
notoriously unreliable!) or better, opt to add a new printer, and when
prompted for its location, type:

\\computername\sharename

Where computername is the name of the host computer, and sharename is the
name you gave to the printer share. (which is not necessarily the same name
it has in Control Panel, just to confuse matters!)

You can also describe the printer based on the host's IP address, for
example:

192.168.1.23\sharename

Which sometimes works better.


In most cases that's all you need to do.
3. Finally does it make a difference that one computer has XP and other XP
pro. ?
Click to expand...

No, not for this purpose. Home is, however, limited to five sharing-clients,
while Pro accepts ten. Two computers, not an issue though.

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