Wireless Network Newbie needing the Idiots guide to all this Jazz!

now I kinda hijacked the thread before this one so I thought I'd start a new thread and document my problems in detail in the hope someone could enlighten me on Networking, and hopefully not make everything seem so daunting as it is now.

Okay I have Computer 1:
It has an internal wireless PCI card in it. Its also the computer that has a USB DSL internet connection that I'm hoping to share.

Computer 2: After trying it with the same brand PCI internal card and it doing nothing but freezing (its a little older than computer 1), I figured it was the PCI slots that couldn't handle it and bought and easy plug and use USB wireless adaptor.

Now confession time number one.. when I first got my new computer I don't know how as I didn't have a clue what I was doing then either I somehow managed to get all this setup just perfectly... I changed things I didn't really understand and low and behold it worked.

Now my problem is I bought a second hard drive for my new PC. It's bigger than the original so I wanted to use that for windows and my programs files, and use my old harddrive as storage for documents and such... so I installed my new harddrive then reformatted both harddrives (in computer 1). As you do I started installing all my old programs files etc.

now it gets round to me reinstalling my network drivers and such and seting back up my network. Still none to sure on what I'm doing but I do as I did before, or try to.


Turns out everything doesn't want to just fall into place this time and I have nothing but problem after problem. First I can't get the computer to connect to the network.. then once I do get it to connect to a network then I can't get it to communicate with my other computer.

I'm just really at the end of my tether.. I've been reading thing sonline all morning... the past 4 hours I've dedicated to trying to figure this out... and while I admit the more I read the more all this makes sense and its a good thing cause I'm learning... in the same vain the more I seem to learn the less it makes sense... or at least my problems I'm having do..

So if anyone out there at all can give me a total idiots guide to seting up a wireless network. (Only for computer to computer (think that ad-hoc or something)) as no router).

I have questions like this running through my head...

1.) Should the computer I want to be the one with the internet connection (i.e. the one the other uses to connect) be the one that add's the Network SSID? and if so do I do it in windows network manger or in the utility tool that appears next to the windows network connection boxes (task tray)?

2.) Once I actually have that set up and the boxes are connected and the utilitys green... do I then run Windows network configuration tool? or should I have done that before hand... or do i even need to do that at all? and should I do all this before setting the other computer up to join the network?

3.) once I have the Network connected on computer 1, what should I see when I goto set up the second comoputer to the network. Should the SSID come straight up, or do I need to add it again on that computer?

4.) Do I then run Windows network wizard on this computer? and set it as the computer to connect to another?

You see I've tryed to do all this, in this order... but each time I do something goes wrong.
Either the networks unavaiable or the networks availabe on one computer and not the other.... or its available on both computers yet both computers acording to my network places aren't on the same workgroup/network... and the Internet connection isn't shared *sigh*

Seriouslly any help would be much appreciated....

Also if anyone could also explain to me what wEP is and how I go about setting my protection up that would be a bonus. As of right now I just am not bothering with it til I actually get this thing working... I think I understand it.. its just the key thing that boggles me.... maybe uneccesarily.. Is the key just a password I put on both computers or is it something predefined somewhere that I need to input?
Then again all that is moot if I can't get the network to work.

Once again any help would be greatly appreciated.

*Is happy*

Okay after reading through all i write, i decided to try everything again. Only this time I didn't install the Utility manager for my PCI card, instead I installed the driver manually. It seems that this has boosted much success... as Now I only have to input an SSID using windows where as before If I didn't have one in the utility manager as well it wouldn't play nice. I think windows and the utility manager was at conflict. Without it, and just going through windows I did everything I thought I needed to above in easy steps and voila now it 'seems' to be working.... well at least the internet is shared .

That does still leave me needing advine on WEP as of right now I have no secruity options checked.... I'd rather not mess it up again til I know what I'm doing.... though an usecure network doesn't fill me with joy, at least everythings networked right for now.