network setup?

[ride2bhi]

I am trying to set up my first network. I have three computers, one running XP Pro, one running Windows 98, and a laptop running ME. I want to set up all three to share files and a USB printer hooked up to the XP machine. Currently I have all three hooked up to a SMC Barricade 4-port 10/100 router and each machine has Norton Internet Security. I am a little overwhelmed by the setup process explained by the XP Network Wizard. It explains that this, all computers connected to router which is then connected to cable modem, is not a good way to setup a network and that I shouldn't use TCP/IP but rather IPX/SPX. I would appreciate any help offered, but please understand that I am a moron, meaning I need very detailed assistance. Thanks.

[DoPeY5007]

tcp/ip is needed so all the computers can see the internet through the router....


all the NIC's on the computers should have tcp/ip by default and the default setting is what is needed for the router to set the ip address for the comps....

[Ladogaboy]

You should be able to load both TCP/IP and IPX at the same time. I'm not sure why XP would say that that is not a good way to run a network, unless they want you to have a hub/switch, and then uplink the hub/switch to the router. :hmm: Weird.

Anyway, you should be fine just following the setup wizard. If you run into problems once the network is up, then you might want to change things around.

[ride2bhi]

Thanks for the responses. Chosenfool, you were right in that I am having problems with the Norton Internet Security. It is kind of amusing when it reports that it is under attack by the computer next to it. Unfortunately this blocks access to the shared folders and the other computers. There is a way to set Norton to accept information from other "trusted" IP addresses. Would this be a good idea? Can I expect my router to provide the same IP address even if I turn it off? To setup the network, XP has this to scare you"warning" (http://www.bfgmedia.com/network_help/help.html), and then tells you to use the XP disk to install the network configurations on the other computers. Seems pretty straight forward but I haven't gotten it to work yet. Anyone had luck setting it up this way using the XP disk?

[DoPeY5007]

Originally posted by ride2bhi
Anyone had luck setting it up this way using the XP disk?I have never used the MS network disks... ( ok once befor my router with 98se and ICS )

you don't need it ;)

[ride2bhi]

OK, Got the 98 machine and the ME machine networked. Norton Internet Security let that work but it is using NetBui which is not, as mentioned above, supported by XP. I tried using IPX/SPX to connect the non XP machines and it wouldn't work. Do I need to remove NetBui in order for IPX/SPX to work? How would I set up a network using the IPX/SPX protocol, specificly on 98 and ME? How were you able to install NEtBui on the XP if this doesn't work? Thanks again.

[ride2bhi]

Who is the man? Thanks for all the help. Got it up and running using IPX/SPX. Also got printer sharing to work too. Finally! Miller time...

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by chosenfool
if youre behind a router, you need not worry about intrusions or hackers - its a hardware firewall in itself, and its the best thing you can use to guard against intruders and snoops.


Just a point of information here -

Most routers that advertise a 'hardware firewall' are doing nothing more than NATting your IP address. While this is a good security measure to take, you are in no way invulnerable to attack by using this as your only defense. There are a bunch of attacks that your machine is still vulnerable to even while NATted.

If your router is just NATting, you should also have a 'true' firewall (hardware or software) - Watchguard, Zone Alarm, Norton, whatever.