Win XP, Widnows ME and NetBui

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ken
  • Start date Start date
K

Ken

I have a desktop running Win XP Home, and my wife has a
laptop running ME. I tried to network the two using a
router, following all of the instructions from XP for
creating a home network, but was never able to make any
connection. I was using a borrowed, known-good router,
and concluded after some research that it was a basic
incompatability between the 2 OS's. The only way I was
able to make the connection was after I found a tip in PC
Magazine. I installed NetBUI, which is no longer part of
XP, but could still be installed. I now use a simple hub
instead of a router and can share access to the printer
and drives on both machines.

When we installed DSL on the desktop, I went through it
all again with the same results. After immobilizing the
desktop several times, and losing the DSL connection
altogether, I swore off trying again for a long time.
The result is that we are not able to access the internet
through the DSL connection from the laptop. (As a side
note, whenever the main machine connects to the DSL, the
connection manager gives a message that there is a TCP/IP
Error, but everything still seems to work.)

I have considered upgrading to XP Pro, but when
attemtping to do so I got a message that NetBUI is no
longer available in XP Pro, so I stopped.

Does anyone have a suggestion for how to make this work
and be able to use a router so both machines can get an
internet connection through the DSL modem? I will
entertain suggestions, as long as it does nto
 
"Ken" said:
I have a desktop running Win XP Home, and my wife has a
laptop running ME. I tried to network the two using a
router, following all of the instructions from XP for
creating a home network, but was never able to make any
connection. I was using a borrowed, known-good router,
and concluded after some research that it was a basic
incompatability between the 2 OS's. The only way I was
able to make the connection was after I found a tip in PC
Magazine. I installed NetBUI, which is no longer part of
XP, but could still be installed. I now use a simple hub
instead of a router and can share access to the printer
and drives on both machines.

When we installed DSL on the desktop, I went through it
all again with the same results. After immobilizing the
desktop several times, and losing the DSL connection
altogether, I swore off trying again for a long time.
The result is that we are not able to access the internet
through the DSL connection from the laptop. (As a side
note, whenever the main machine connects to the DSL, the
connection manager gives a message that there is a TCP/IP
Error, but everything still seems to work.)

I have considered upgrading to XP Pro, but when
attemtping to do so I got a message that NetBUI is no
longer available in XP Pro, so I stopped.

Does anyone have a suggestion for how to make this work
and be able to use a router so both machines can get an
internet connection through the DSL modem? I will
entertain suggestions, as long as it does nto

I'm sorry that you've had such problems with the network, and I'm sure
that this news group can help you get it working.

Upgrading to XP Pro won't help. XP Home has exactly the same
networking features as XP Pro for a home workgroup network. NetBEUI
is available in XP Pro the same as in XP Home. You'd have to
un-install it before the upgrade and re-install it after.

However, nothing in Windows networking requires, or has ever required,
NetBEUI. Everything that you want to do is possible using TCP/IP as
the only network protocol. Un-install NetBEUI from both computers.

Connect the DSL modem to the router's WAN port. Connect the computers
to the router's LAN ports. Run the Network Setup Wizard on each
computer to configure TCP/IP. Tell the Wizard that the computer
connects to the Internet through a "residential gateway", which is
what it calls your router.

Un-install all firewall programs (ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security,
etc) on both computers while troubleshooting. Your router protects
the computers from access by other Internet users.
--
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
 
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