Connect New WinXP Computer to Network

Your first step will be to determine if XP thinks the hardware is fnctioning properly or not.  The quickest way to get to XP's network screen is from the icon tray at the bottom right of your screen.  There should be a litle picture of a pair of computer monitors.  Double click it (you may have to click the little "<" to the left of the tray to see all items in the tray.

In the properties, Windows will show all your network cards, with the icon representing "inactive" (grayed out, active, or active-but-broken.

Once we detrmine the hardware is working properly, we have to determine if you can connect to other devices on the network.  Here's where we need to know what it you are connecting to.

One quick thing you can do:

1) Start -> Run Program
2) Type CMD and hit enter
3) An old-stye command prompt opens up
4) Type ipconfig, and hit enter
5) Post the result here
6) For the item labeled "gateway," note the set of numbers (IP address)
7) Type (in the CMD window): PING 12.34.56.78 (where 12.34.56.78 is the gateway IP address)
8) Hit enter
9) Report result here
10 In CMD window, type EXIT and hit enter.  This will close the window.

Setting up ICS In Windows XP

1. Left click on the "Start Button" on your taskbar. You will then right click "My Network Places" and select "Properties"

2. Now, in this window you should see an icon for "Local Area Connection" and "Local Area Connection 2" for both of your NIC's.

3. Next, you will want to right click on the Network Area Connection icon that connects to your modem, and once again select "Properties" from the drop down window.

4. Now,  at the top of the window there are 3 tabs. The tab furthest to your right is the "Advanced" tab. That is where we will want to go next. Click on the Advanced Tab.

5. The box next to "Enable Internet Connection Sharing for this connection" should be unchecked, Simply check the box and hit "OK" to share your connection through this NIC.

6. Now, double check the properties for your other NIC (connected to your LAN) to ensure that they are setup correctly to use ICS. At the "My Network Places" Window, Right click on your "Local Area Connection 2" Icon and select Properties from the drop down menu.

7. Now, to check the TCP/IP settings, simply double click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" line, or highlight it and then click the "Properties" button beneath it.

8. Your TCP/IP Properties should look exactly like below. If they do not, then there is a problem somewhere.

    IP Address 192.168.0.1
   Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0

9. Now, to get your Client computers up and working, here is how you do it. Go to a command prompt, if you're using Windows 2000 or Windows NT, type "ipconfig" at the prompt (if you're using any version of Windows from the Win9x family, go to Start/Run and type "winipcfg" and do a renew from the window). It should display something like this:

    IP 0.0.0.0
    Subnet Mask 0.0.0.0

10. Now, at the prompt type "ipconfig /renew" and it should renew the Adapter to try and obtain an IP address from the DHCP server that is running on your host computer. You should get something like this:

    IP 192.168.0.X (X can be any number from 1 to 254
    Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0

11. You Are Now ready To Go!