I want to be able to transfer files from my laptop to PC and vice versa

Hi,

I am a newbie at this.

I have a router cum ADSL modem machine from Netgear. Its a DG834G that connects to the Internet via a phone line.

My laptop and PC can go on to the internet wirelessly via this Netgear router.

My problem is this, I heard that i can do file transfer at greater speeds between PC and laptop if I set up a network, rather than throught the internet. I want to be able to do that wirelessly.

I tried to use Win Xp network wizard and it recommends that I set up a Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) host. Is it necessary to choose a ICS host in order to set up a network?

Can I just set up a network without choosing a ICS host?

Also, I used my laptop in varsity. So what I did was that I set up 2 profiles on my CISCO Aironet Client Utility, one for my home use and another to connect to school network wirelessly and the driver automatically selects the correct profile to use when it detects a wireless connection.

So if I do set up a network, how do I do it without changing too much for my laptop to be used in my varsity as well?

THanks

Regards
Sim

Since neither computer is connected directly to the Internet, neither should be setup as the ICS host.

Since you've got a router, I'd imagine that you're using DHCP. Make sure that the NICs are set to use the DHCP server and check that each computer obtains an IP address from the router. Then, see if the two computers can ping between each other. If they can, then file sharing should be fine and you should be able to access the other computer by typing \\computername in the address bar of Windows Explorer.



What settings do you have to set to use the network at school? Can you use DHCP on both networks, so that you don't need to change anything from one network to the other?

How do I check that both my PC and my laptop are set to use the DHCP server? Anyway, both get their IP address from the router, I think. Cause the client adapter IP address for both are always different depending on which machine gets switched on first.


yes they can ping each other as well as the router as well. I tried this on the command prompt and it was successful.



No i cannot do this.

First of all i made sure that both machines (laptop and PC) are on the same workgroup.

After that I chose view workgroup computers on my PC. I can only find my PC on it.

Then I typed \\laptopname in the address bar of Windows Explorer, I also cannot find such machine.

I tried to view workgroup computers on my laptop. I cannot even access the workgroup. The error message says I do not have administrator privileges which is wrong as I am the administrator for both PC and laptop.

I typed \\PCname in the address bar of Windows Explorer, I also cannot find such machine.

By the way, i read the useful information and resources posted by the moderator edwin brains and i have a few otehr questions to ask:

# Check for firewall software. This needs to be disabled or configured for home networking. Also, if you are using Windows XP, check that Internet Connection Firewall is not enabled on the network connection.

Do you mean when I click on view network connections > the connection that I am currently using to surf the Internet > right click > properties > advanced > internet connection firewall should not be enabled for all my machines in order for me to do file transfer between them? Note that I can still ping my PC from my laptop and vice versa.

If I have to disable the internet connection firewall in order to do so, I feel a need for a firewall. Can you recommend a good firewall that will not conflict with my norton anti virus? i am using win xp SP1 and may upgrade to SP2.


# If you are using Windows 2000 or XP, make sure that the Guest account is enabled.

How do I enable the Guest account? Do I need to for my situation?

By the way, my ipconfig.txt for my laptop is below:


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : U0200727

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-A0-D1-D0-CC-62



Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Cisco Systems 350 Series PCMCIA Wireless LAN Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-0E-B3-86-05

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.3

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 03, 2004 2:51:14 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, October 06, 2004 2:51:14 PM





Thank you.

If that's the case, then they're probably both using the DHCP server on the router.



Check also if you can ping the computers by their name, as well as their IP address.

Make sure that NetBIOS is enabled on both computers.



If you can ping between computers, then I doubt that firewalls are causing any problems. But, what I meant when I said to disable firewalls was that you should disable the firewall on the local network card. So, if you had two network connections, one which connected to the Internet and one which connected to the local network, you should make sure that the firewall was enabled on the first (to the Internet) but not on the second (to the local network).

However, since you're using a router, this will have a firewall built-in for you, so you don't actually need any firewalls on the computers themselves. But, make sure that ICF isn't enabled on your wireless connection.



You're using a router, so this should protect you fine enough. However, if you want an additional firewall on each computer, something like ZoneAlarm works well. But, you need to make sure that it's configured for home networking (normally you need to add local computers to a trusted zone).



In Computer Management from the Control Panel Administrative Tools, select System Tools, Local Users and Groups, Users. There you should be able to view the properties for the Guest account and make sure that it isn't disabled.

Another thing you can try: on both computers, make sure that you're using administrative accounts which both have exactly the same username and password.



That looks fine. I imagine that the other computer is very similar.

Ok i can ping 192.168.0.2, which is the IP address assigned to my PC, from my laptop and ping 192.168.0.3, which is assigned to my laptop, from my PC.

BUT, i cannot ping PCname from my laptop and ping Laptopname from my PC though they can ping themselves by their names.



Sorry, but I am nt familiar with this. How do I check for this?




Ok, my laptop has the Guest account not disabled, but my PC does. I have changed my PC settings not to disable the Guest account. Guess what? Still cannot ping by names.

PS: I have asked my friends from my school and they have reported the same problem. After using the laptop in school, they cannot rejoin the workgroup they have set at home even after changing the laptop's membership from the school's domain to the workgroup they have set at home.

The interesting thing was all the PCs were able to talk to each other simply by creating a workgroup and getting all the PCs to join it. But not the laptop which was used in the school. The only way to get around this apparently was to format the laptop (!) and start anew. However, the moment the laptop was brought to school and used to surf the net via the school network. The problem resurfaced again.

Open the Control Panel and select Network Connections. Right-click your network connection and select Properties. Select Internet Protocol TCP/IP and click the Properties button. Click Advanced and select the WINS tab. From there, you should see a place where you can enable NetBIOS.



You don't know what's been done to the laptop to make it work on the school network, I suppose? Perhaps you should try asking the admin guys there to see if they can offer any suggestions.

Its at default. Do i change it to enable nonetheless?




Thanks, but I tried. I am either asking the wrong people or they are not very sure themselves.

Thank you

regards
nn

Yes, try setting it to enabled. Then see if you can ping by computer name as well as IP address.