Home Networking and Other Stuff

[Area 0]

Hello Guys, just wanted to pop a few questions out.

 

Ok, as it is now, I have two computers, my Game Computer and my buisness comp.

 

Specs: Comp #1

2.00 GHz P4

512 MB RAM

40 GB Hard Drive Space

Connecting to the Internet Using Ethernet

GeForce 4 Ti4600

 

my Other comp (gag) comp #2

 

454 Mhz

128 MB RAM

Pentium 2

 

I dont know much more, I got it for a steal of a deal in a sale.

 

Both computers run fine. Computer 1 has Windows XP, and Comp 2 run on 98.

 

Now, what would be the simplist way to make a home network, or how would you reccomend going about it. Another question, to update to XP on Comp 2, would I have to go out and buy a completly new XP boz, when I have the re-installiation disc from the purschase of my good comp, or would that screw things up quite a bit... Its been a long time since I worked with comps, Thanks for all your help guys.

[Sonic 295]

You could probably just buy two cheap NIC PCI cards and a cable to link the computers that way for quick network. You could also explorer wireless networking options.

I'm not really clued up on the best ways for networking though.

 

Forget installing Windows XP on that low spec computer, it would be painfully slow. Stick with Windows 98.

[Rogue Leader 0]

I'm assuming you use high-speed internet (I thought you had said sometime that you had DSL). The best route is to use a 4-port router from Linksys and Windows XP can do the rest for you. I prefer Linksys because it is reliable and user-friendly, but you can really use any router for the job.

 

The reason for the router is mainly security - the NAT firewall is great protection against hackers, better than software firewalls for sure. It also handles DHCP, which makes sure all your computers get an IP address and can communicate with each other.

 

Once you set up the router and have both computers plugged in, you can use Windows XP network setup wizard to guide you through the process of configuring the system to communicate through the router and with the other computer. Once you have completed setup on that machine, you can create a floppy disk which will automatically configure the Windows 98 PC, which is an awesome tool.

 

Home networking is painfully simple these days, just follow that instructions and you can't go wrong. I don't recommend using Wireless networking if you have a business computer unless you are comfortable working with the security options. You wouldn't want any valuable information left out in the open, so be careful if you do choose the wireless route.

[chickendippers 1]

My setup is painfully simple. I have two computers, one running XP and one running 98SE. My broadband goes into the XP comp via ethernet and the 98SE comp is connected via a second ethernet card.

ICS is enabled so I can access the net on my 98SE comp.

I bought a hub so that I have expansion capabilitues (ie. for broadband consoles) but you can honesly just buy some cable and plug the two things together. My setup costs me £20 for a hub and two 15M cables.