help a networking n00b

[-Spool-]

Hey,
I just bought a new machine with a P4C800-E Deluxe, a Micronet SP2612R Gigabit Ethernet card. This system is running Windows XP. I would like to connect this system to my older system running Windows 98, it has an ethernet card as well.

I have all the faq's here about networking, and have searched, I would like to connect the two computers together so they will share the internet (Shaw Cable) without the use of a router.

The reason I bought the micronet was because I read you could connect the cable to the inboard ethernet card on the mobo, then run a line from the micronet to the other computer.

My question is.. Can this be done between a Windows XP system and a Windows 98 System. And if so... how do I go about setting this up.

Thanks for any help.

[DanFraser]

It can be done yes. I cant specifically remember how to do it for windows 98, but go through the guides you have for setting up a basic TCP/IP network connection on both computers for the network card that is going to be used for the connection to the other computer. Set the one that holds the connection, to 192.168.0.1 as the IP, set the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, then fill in the DNS server numbers with what your ISP supplies. Leave the others blank. The other computer, make sure the IP address is set to 192.168.0.1 and make the others the same, except this time, set the Gateway address as 192.168.0.1. If you have the computer that holds the connection as the one that has windows XP (makes it a touch easier).

Now, technically this should work, but from experience and knowledge learnt from others, it usually isnt the case. One cure to help this, is in the connection properties, add IPX/SPX support for TCP/IP in both computers. The defacto guides everywhere on the net (via google) should help you along with this.

This is one 'fix' I know of, but you should find plenty of guides out there on the net, and really the best advice I can give for networking is go out there and read! Read as much as you can, because seeing how things are done differently several times, and little tricks that I may not know of will certainly help you in the long run.

Sorry for not posting a definitive answer, but networking like this is a bit tough, and I also need to go to bed!

[gusgizmo]

you will need to use some form of a router, unless you can get multiple ip addresses from your cable provider, which usually costs extra. if you are dead set on not doing any routing, then this is the way to go. what you would then need to do is connect the two computers with a crossover cable, and setup a network bridge with windows xp. no more configuration than this is usually necessary, because then you will be able to use the cable companies dhcp server for your ip addresses and dns information.

if you dont want to pay though, then you will need to setup the xp machine as a router. you can use internet connection sharing to do this, and it will handle all the technical details. im sure that you can figure out how to make it work, but if you need more help i can walk you through it. if you arent good at networking at all, you can also make a floppy disk with home networking wizard on it to setup your other machines.

[dkdgbroyles]

If u have the xp install disc ,u can run a network wizard off of that on the 98 windows machine. It will work on 98 windows I believe. That will get u started.

[don256us]

It can be done without a router. One of the two machines must have two network cards. One of those cards will connect to the other machine via a 'null' cable (A.K.A. cross over cable). The second card will connect to your broadband modem. The network card that is connected to your modem *must* have the IP of 192.168.0.1. This is a limitation of the MS ICS (Internet Connection shareing.)

My suggestion is to have the 2 network cards in your XP machine. Then run the wizard. Once done with the wizard, you will have an option to write the config to a floppy. You can then use the floppy to config the Win98 machine.

[DanFraser]

Originally posted by don256us
My suggestion is to have the 2 network cards in your XP machine. Then run the wizard. Once done with the wizard, you will have an option to write the config to a floppy. You can then use the floppy to config the Win98 machine.

I completely forgot about that! I suppose that comes from a hatred for the windows wizards, and doing it all manually.