Networking Windows 9X/ME/2K/XP
These instructions assume you have a an ADSL or Dialup connection to the internet via an ADSL Modem or Dialup Modem.
IP Addresses
Each computer should have a static IP Address. You can use any IP Address class, as long as it is an internal set. Lets assume you are using the 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 Class C set. This is a common network set and allows for the inclusion of up to 254 computers. However it is commonly used for small networks that have less then 254 computers. Give each computer an IP address like the following:
192.168.0.XXX
The “XXX” can be any number between 1 and 255.
The subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
If your network uses the 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0 set, then each computer should have an IP Address like the following:
192.168.1.XXX
The “XXX” can be any number between 1 and 255.
The subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
The computer with the ADSL modem connection needs to have the IP Address of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. If you IP address set is neither of the two mentioned, just make sure that each computer has an IP address that follows the same scheme. No matter what IP set you are using, make sure that the computer with the ADSL modem connection has an IP address that has a “1″ (without the quotes) as the last number. Eg: 10.0.0.1. The subnet mask for this IP address is 255.0.0.0.
The other computers on the network should have their Default Gateway IP address as the IP address of the computer with the ADSL modem connection. The computer with the ADSL modem connection should also have its default gateway set to itself.
And thats It! IP Addresses & Internet is set up!
Sharing Your Files
Microsoft Windows 9X/ME
Microsoft Windows 9X/ME is a share level system. This means that you don’t need a password to access the resources on it. When you share a resource (a folder, CD-ROM, Printer or Hard Drive), you can share it with Full Access or Read Only Access. Full Access allows other users to modify the contents of the resource (except where the resource is a CD-ROM or Printer). Allowing Read Only Access means other users can read the data but cannot write to or modify the resources.
In Microsoft Windows 9X/ME, you share a resource by right clicking it and selecting properties. On the Window that appears, click the sharing tab. Click the radio button to share the resource and select weather users have full or read only access. You can password protect resources, however this is the maximum amount of file sharing security that Microsoft Windows 9X offers. When you are done, click the apply button, and then click the OK button.
Microsoft Windows XP (Professional) & 2K
Microsoft Windows XP Professional can be configured to allow share level access or user level access. User level access means that the user accessing the resource from another computer must have a user account or know the username and password of an account on the host computer. Without one you are denied access. You can configure share level access if you wish, but this will have problems due to Microsofts enforcement of user level sharing. This guide will show you how to configure user level share access.
Microsoft Windows XP has a share level access system that is set up for you to use by default. Quite plainly, Microsoft calls it the Shared Documents system. This is a system where you can drag files you want to share into the Shared Documents folder and any user on that computer or on any other computer on the network can access it. While this is usefull, it is not very handy if you want to access your documents from another computer. The only way to access them would be to go back to the computer with your documents on it, and copy them to the Share Documents folder (Accessible via My Computer). You may as well use a floppy disc.
The best way to setup sharing on a network with multiple operating systems (Windows 9X/ME/2K/XP) is to create a common user on each computer (except for the Windows 9X/ME computer).
This guide assumes you are calling your common user LAN and the password is also LAN. In reality, you can make the username and password whatever you like, however, the username and password should be the same on all computers for simplicity. That is, each computer has an account called LAN and the password is LAN. You do not need to ever logon to the computer with this account, so you can disable local login for this account if you wish to further increase secuity on the local machine. Make the user a Power User or Limited User under Windows XP.
Now you need to share your resources to this user. Select the resource you want to share (CD-ROM, Hard Drive, Folder or Printer). Right click it and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Next select the sharing tab. In Windows XP, you should see a sharing tab and a security tab. If you do not see these then you need to disable simple file sharing. simple file sharing is the shared documents system. When you share files using this system, you effectivly copy the contents of the resource you “simple file share” into the shared documents folder.
To disable Simple File sharing, open any explorer window, click the tools menu, and then click folder options. Click the View tab and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the list and un-check the box next to Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended). Click Apply, click OK.
Select the resource you want to share and then select properties. Click the sharing tab. Click the radio button next to Share this folder. You can give it a share name if you like or just use the default. Type a description of the resource into the comment tab if you wish. This will only show on other Microsoft Windows XP computers though.
Next click the permissions button. By default, if you have selected a folder,the share permission for the folder will be the Everyone group. Any user can be a member of the Everyone group.You’ll also notice that the Everyone group has full access. This is fine for small networks where all the users are well known, but to create a little more security in the system, we’ll change the network access to only allow the LAN user to access the shared folder. We will now do this as an exercise.
Close any windows you have open and return to the desktop.
Open My Computer or Explorer.
Open a hard drive and navigate to the folder that you want to share. (you should never share the “C” drive of your computer on a network with unknown members). You can share any hard drive or Removable Drive if you wish. The steps are the same.
Right click the folder or drive that you want to share and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Click the sharing tab and click the radio button next to Share this folder. Give the folder a share name if you like, or leave it as the default.
Click the permissions button, select the Everyone group and then click the Remove button.
Click the Add Button.
Click the Advanced Button
Click the Find Now button
Scroll down the list and select the LAN user.
Click OK
At this point you can change the level of access. You can change it to full control or read. For the purpose of this exercise, select full control.
Click Apply
Click OK
Click Apply
Click OK
And thats it, you have shared a resource. The process is exactly the same if you want to share a removable drive and or printer. To share more resources or folders, just go through the process above again for another folder.
Network Access
Microsoft Windows 9X/ME
To access a resource on another computer, click start, run.
Enter in: \\ComputerName
Click Ok
If the computerName you typed in has any of the Windows 9X/ME Operting System installed, you should be presented with a window that contains icons with the share names of the resources that computer has shared. To access the resources, just double click them.
If the ComputerName you typed in has Windows XP/2K installed, then you will be asked for a user name and password. Enter in LAN and the password is LAN. You should then be presented with a folder that contains all the resources that have been shared and are available to the LAN user. To access any of the resources, just double click them.
Microsoft Windows XP/2K
To access a resource on another computer, open any explorer window and type into the address box: \\ComputerName\ and press enter.
If the ComputerName you typed in has any of the Windows9X operating Systems installed, you should be presented with a folder that contains all the resources that are shared on the computer. You may be asked for a username and password if the resource was shared depending on password.
If the computerName you type in has either Windows XP or 2K installed, you should be presented with a box asking you for a username and password. Enter in LAN as the username and LAN as the password. Click the check box for “Save This Password” to avoid having to type the username and password again each time you access the computer and click OK. You should then be presented with a folder containing all the resources available on that computer. To access them, just double click them.
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