Networking basics...very basics

flyriceflyrice
edited December 2004 in Science & Tech
OK, I've finally been able to get the three PCs in my house all able to get on the internet (1 hardwired to the router, 2 on a wireless).

Now I would like to be able to have the PCs actually "see" each other on the network. How do I go about doing it? I'd like to be able to share files, etc. I tried the Network Wizard through WinXP and it didn't do anything for me unless I didn't do it right.

Extending from that, I'd like to be able to do a LAN with my PCs (I plan on having friends over soon and playing some CS on a LAN, maybe some old-school Diablo 2 for fun also, possibly some AOM too). Would I actually have to hardwire everything to the router or would the 2 wireless and one hardwired PC be fine to do a LAN?

I'd also like to turn an extra PC I have laying around into a file and game server (it's a 400 MHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM...probably need something with more power I'm guessing?).

As you can see, I'm really new to networking and I just have the basics of "getting all your PCs on the net at the same time" down.

If you guys have the patience too, I'd appreciate it if you explained it to me (with pics if possible) as if I'm reading one of those Dummies books.

Comments

  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited December 2004
    What I was told, and it worked, was this. Don't bother with the network wizard. Just share a drive, folder, whatever on each machine then create an identical user account on each machine, same password, user name etc. Make sure they are all on the same workgroup and it should work, unless I've missed something.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    bothered wrote:
    What I was told, and it worked, was this. Don't bother with the network wizard. Just share a drive, folder, whatever on each machine then create an identical user account on each machine, same password, user name etc. Make sure they are all on the same workgroup and it should work, unless I've missed something.

    you dont even need the same accounts..

    share the drive then map the drive, when it asks you for a user name and password just use an account on the machine your mapping to and use the save username and password feature.

    if mapping to the machine name fails, use the ip.
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    using ip's to map usually works with out any issues, even with different workgroups.

    just make sure each machine can ping each other.
  • flyriceflyrice
    edited December 2004
    bothered wrote:
    What I was told, and it worked, was this. Don't bother with the network wizard. Just share a drive, folder, whatever on each machine then create an identical user account on each machine, same password, user name etc. Make sure they are all on the same workgroup and it should work, unless I've missed something.
    OK, here's how much of a nub I am at this: How do I even get THAT far? How do I enable a drive or folder to be shared? How do I get them on the same workgroup? How do I know what workgroup I am under?
  • GobblesGobbles Ventura California
    edited December 2004
    right click my computer

    select properties

    computer name tab..

    default for windows is workgroup..
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited December 2004
    Same as for drives and folders, right click, properties and select sharing.
  • flyriceflyrice
    edited December 2004
    OK, I was able to get the workgroup stuff done. On my PC (the one connected to the router) I can see my PC, the family room, and the office PC. However, the family room and the Office PC cannot see each other nor can they see this one (in other words, they can't see anything on the workgroup). I tried pinging the PCs to make sure they can receive from my PC and they can (although the ZoneAlarm firewall stopped the data from going through, but something's definitely happening and I'm getting a "request timed out" response).

    Another problem: I keep getting this response when I try to connect to the family PC from my PC

    "'... is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this resource. Contact administrator to find out if you have access permissions. Network path was not found"

    So it looks like I've somehow established a network (because my PC can see the others) but I can't do much other than that. My questions are these:

    -How do I get my wireless connected PCs (Family and Office) to see each other AND see Fly's PC (mine)?
    -How am I able to enable all the PCs to see a test folder I have setup (called Shared that was created in Fly's PC)?

    My network looks something like this


    Internet --> Cable Modem -->

    /--> Office PC (on a wireless)
    /
    Router --> Fly's PC (Connected directly to router)
    \
    \--> Family PC (on a wireless)
  • flyriceflyrice
    edited December 2004
    Ah-ha! Figured it out...it was the damn firewall. ZoneAlarm wasn't letting any of my PCs see each other because I didn't put them in the Trusted Zone.

    Fixed that...but there's one problem left. The office PC is running on WinXP Home ed and it's not seeing the other PCs on the network. My PC and the family PC can both see each other AND the office PC, but the Office PC can't see anything. They're all in the same workgroup. Once my bro gets off of that PC, I'm gonna toy with ZoneAlarm again to see if that's the problem, which it may be, but I'm just throwing this out there just in case anyone has any ideas.

    EDIT: Ah-ha! Finally got it configured and now all of the PCs can now share files. Awesome...thanks for the help guys.
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