i have 2 computers networked running winxp and i can use my dialup connection on both computers but i cannot enable/disable the connection from the computer that is not directly connected. There should have been an icon created called internet gateway when i created the shared connection but this does not exist, how can i get internet gateway to show up so i can enable/disable the connection?

You must be logged on as a computer administrator in order to complete this procedure. Start the Network Setup Wizard. Follow the instructions on your screen. Important Before running the Network Setup Wizard, make sure your network hardware is installed and working properly on all of the computers on your network. Before running the Network Setup Wizard on computers running Windows 98 Second Edition or Windows Millennium Edition, make sure Internet Connection Sharing is disabled on these computers. To start the Network Setup Wizard, click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network Connections. Under Common Tasks, click Network Setup Wizard. Run the Network Setup Wizard on the host computer first. The host computer is the one that will share its Internet connection. During the Network Setup Wizard, create a floppy disk to run the Network Setup Wizard on other Windows computers on your network [not Win 95].

I have tried this and internet gateway still doesnt seem to show up on the computer

Um, OK... I think what you're calling the Internet Gateway isn't what you actually want... you want the connection status icon that appears in your system tray, like it does when you're connected to the internet with a dial-up... it's easy... Right-click on My Network Places, and from the menu select Properties. In here, select the local area connection, right-click on it, and again, click on properties from it's menu. Now you have your LAN properties box up. On the first page of it there, right at the bottom of the box you will see a checkbox that says 'Show icon in notification area when connected.' Tick the box, then click OK and you're all done... Now, look in your system tray, and you should see the connection icon in there... right-clicking it will give you the option to disable the connection...

Shouldn't the gateway be created on the machine sharing the internet connection, if it's not there, then I would agree that there may be a problem. I believe All of the configuration is on the server side, so on the client, the only thing that would be changed, is the network settings (ip, gateway, netmask) I think. Also, did you choose to enable the option to dial on demand when your second machine tries to access the net. I think that if you follow the directions in the previous post, you will actually be disabling your network connection between the two, not disconnecting from the net, but of course I could be wrong.