I was just wondering if I could get some help. I have 2 computers in my house on two different floors. a win98 and a winME "bleh" How can I network these together for filesharing/playing games against each other and so on? I need it to be reasonably cheap yet effective. I was thinking just a regular PPP topology but have doubts that I know how to hook one up. Any help is welcome

All you need is a NIC (network interface card) in each PC and a crossover cable between them. Make note of that, a crossover cable! When direct connecting two PC's like this that's the one you need. Some employee's at some computer stores don't know enough about the difference between the two to sell you the right one. The simples setup for two PC's is as follows: - install TCP/IP protocol stack after installing the NIC's - In your TCP/IP properties for the NIC (on each machine) edit the settings as follows - PC 1, IP address: 192.168.0.1 - PC 2, IP address: 192.168.0.2 - Set the Subnet Mask to: 255.255.255.0 on both PC's - Ensure both PC's have unique computer names - Ensure both PC's have the same workgroup name

please let me mail regarding interfence with two pc supported to novel networking . connected with rj45 connectors to one pc & connecting to another pc with using two lan cards in main machine

Setting up a home network between two computers by Gr8ful | Oct 29 '00 This is a fairly simple step by step procedure for setting up two computers to share files, internet connection, printers and to play games over a 10/100 baseTX local area network. This procedure is for PC's using Windows 95,98 and ME. Installing the NIC's First you want to install a NIC (Network Interface Card) in each computer. Make sure you have a free slot available for the card in each PC. I would recommend using PCI network cards but if you don't have any free PCI slots you can use an ISA network card providing you have a free ISA slot available. For price vs. performance, I would suggest using 10/100 baseTX instead of 10 baseT. They are about the same price now and if both PC's are using 10/100 you will have better transfer rates. You will not need to purchase a hub unless you want more than two PC's connected to the network. After shutting down the computer and unplugging the power cable, open the case of the PC and find the appropriate empty slot. Insert the NIC into the slot and screw it into place. Do this for both computers. After the NIC is securely in place, replace the case and plug the cables back in. Boot up the computer and Windows should detect the new card and ask for the drivers. If Windows does not ask for the drivers, you may have to run the installation program from the CD or floppy disk that came with the NIC. If Windows asks for the drivers, put in the CD or floppy disk that came with the NIC and choose "Search for a better driver" or for Windows 95 choose "Have disk" when prompted. At the next window, check the box next to "Specify a location" and type in the drive letter followed by a colon where the driver disk is located, or for Windows 95 simply type in the drive letter followed by a colon where the driver disk is located. Some driver disks have the drivers for several different operating systems on the same disk but in separate folders. If this is the case, choose the folder on the disk that corresponds with your operating system. For example, if you are using Windows 98 the driver may be located in A:\WIN9x or A:\WIN98. After the drivers are loaded you must reboot for the changes to take effect and for the Windows registry to finish updating. Setting up the Network Now that you have the network cards installed you must run the cable from one computer to the other. Since we are not using a hub in this scenario, you must use a CAT 5 crossover cable. This is important because without a hub to crossover each connection, you must use crossover cable or the computer will not be able to connect. Assigning names After you have run the cable to each computer you can configure each computer for the network. Each computer must have a unique name on the network. For this scenario we will call the computers COMP1 and COMP2. Right click on the network neighborhood icon on the desktop and you will get a drop down menu. At the bottom of the drop down menu, click on "properties". This will open your network properties for the computer. You will see three tabs at the top of this window labled "Configuration", "Identification" and "Access Control". Click on Identification first and in the "Computer Name" field, type in the computers unique name. We will call this one COMP1. Do the same for the other computer but call it COMP2. Assigning workgroup Both computers must be on the same workgroup to make using the network easy. In the "Workgroup" field choose a name for the workgroup but make sure you use the same workgroup name for both computers. We will use NETGROUP for our scenario. You may type a description of the computer in the "Computer Description" field but it is not necessary to do so. Access Control This is the third tab at the top of the window. This is a simple step. Choose "Share-level access control". This will allow you to assign passwords to the shared drives and printers on each computer instead of having a list of users that have access to each resource on the network. It is the best choice for a simple home network and easier to control who can use what. Simply do not give passwords to persons you wish to not have access. Configuration This is the first tab at the top of the window. You will see a button that says "File and Print Sharing". Click on that button and check both boxes. One will allow users (with appropriate password) access to your files and the other will allow users (with appropriate password) access to your printer(s). This is only the first part of setting up file and printer sharing. Now you must choose the drives and printer(s) you want to share. Sharing Drives Close the Network window and Windows will prompt you to reboot. Click ok and let the computer reboot. After Windows is back up and running, open "My Computer" by double clicking on that icon. Choose a drive you want to share and right click on it, again you will get a drop down menu. From the drop down menu choose "Sharing" by clicking on it. By default the drive will be set to "Not Shared". Click on the "Shared As" field and under that choose a share name. The share name can be any name you want, but to keep it simple we will just use the drive letter. So if we are sharing drive C: we will use the share name C. You may add a comment if you like in the comment field but this is not necessary. The next field down is "Access Type". There are three choices here. "Read only", "Full" and "Depends on Password". "Read only" will allow users with the appropriate password to copy files from your drive or to launch certain executables from your drive but will not allow them to add files or delete files from your drive. "Full" gives the user with the appropriate password full access to add, remove, copy or edit files on your drive. "Depends on Password" allows you to assign a different password each for read only or full access, so the user can only do what the password the have access to will allow. Do this for each drive you wish to share on both computers. Sharing Printers If the printer you wish to share is on COMP1, open the Printers folder in "My Computer" on COMP1 and right click on the printer you wish to share. This window is similar to the drive sharing window except there is only the option of a single password. You do not have to assign a password unless you want to. Simply click on "Share As" and assign a name to the printer. Once the printer is set to be shared, you can set up the printer on the other computer (COMP2) by opening the printer folder in "My Computer" on COMP2 and clicking the "Add Printer" icon. The Windows "Add Printer Wizard" will prompt you to choose a local or network printer, choose network and click next. Now it will ask you for the "Network path or queue name". Instead of typing in the path, click the "Browse" button under the field and you will see a new window titled "Browse for Printer". You will see a drop list of the network neighborhood. At the bottom of the list you will see the name of the other computer (COMP1) and just to the left of it there will be a + sign in a box. Click the + sign and the printer will be shown under the computer name. Highlight the printer and click "Ok". The computer will now install the printer from the driver files from the other computer. After the installation is complete, I recommend printing the test page to be sure it is set up correctly. Internet Sharing If you are using Windows 98 or Windows ME setting up internet sharing is fairly easy but if you are using Windows 95 on both computers, you must use proxy software like Wingate. If you have Windows 98 or ME on one computer and Windows 95 on the other you can use the Windows 98/ME computer to connect to the internet and access it with no problem from the computer with Windows 95 on it. In Windows 98/ME open "Control Panel" and double click on "Add/Remove Programs". Choose the "Windows Setup" tab at the top of the window. Highlight the "Internet Tools" check box and click the "Details" button. The first check box is for internet connection sharing. Check that box and click "Ok". You may be prompted for your Windows CD at this point. Follow the installation procedure instructions and when prompted, put a floppy in the A: drive. The set up program will write an executable file to the floppy disk that you can use to set up the internet sharing for the other computer. Simply take the floppy out when the set up is finished and place it in the A: drive of the second computer and open the A: drive in "My Computer". Double click on the executable file and in a few seconds you will be sharing your internet connection. I hope this helps you if you plan to set up a home network between two PC's. Thanks for reading. :-) Gr8ful