Basic networking

Skip ICS. It is a pain and not worth the effort.

1.)Buy a nice linksys DSL router to share internet  
   connection, I am of course assuming that you have some
   kind of line to share.

2.)You will also need a DSL ethernet modem, you can oder
   this from your ISP.

You can bypass the first two steps by purchasing a cheap 5 port hub and running a proxy software such as http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network.htm
this proxy software will work no matter what kind of line you are sharing.

Anyway the first two steps are the best method by far.

Once you have decided how to share your internet connection lets move on to setting up your network.

I will assume that you have network cards and there drivers alreading installed.

3.)Right click on Network neibrohood and click on
   properties.

TCP/IP is the default protocol and should already be installed, it is my opinion in a peer to peer network such as yours that you can safely install the Netbui protocal this will help your network should you have any TCP/IP problems and because you may not have a DHCP or DNS server at your site.

4.)To install netbui or TCP/IP if it is not installed,
   right click on Network Neigbrohood and click on the Add
   button.
   Select protocal and then select Microsoft select TCP/IP
   and if you like Netbui.

Once TCP/IP is installed you can double click on the TCP/IP that is bound to you network addapter to configure the properties.

If you followed step one and you have a DSL router. it will include DHCP and you should not have to change the TCP/IP parameters as they should be set to obtain an IP address. If you do not have a DSL router with DHCP then you will have to setup the TCP/IP with static IP addresses.

4.) Double click on you TCP/IP to check or change your
    parameters. IF you have a router with DHCP leave it
    on Obtain an IP address. IF not click on Specify an IP
    address.

5.) For an IP address enter 192.168.1.100 and a subnet
    mask of 255.255.255.0. The next computer should be
    192.168.1.101 and so on. You need a different IP
    address for each computer. Click on Gateway tab at the
    top and for now lets enter 192.168.1.1 This may need
    to be changed bepending on your setup. Under DNS tab
    enter your ISP's DNS addresses. If you do not know
    them, for now enter 205.152.0.5 Click OK

6.) This is important for a successful peer to peer
    network install. Click on Identifcation tab at the top
    of your network properties biolog box. (step 3) Give
    your computers all unique names but set the workgroup
    to be the same on all your computers.

7.) Back under the configuration tab (Step 3) click on
    File and printer sharing button. Select both check
    boxes and click OK. Reboot machine.

8.) Sharing: Now that you have everthing setup to work you
    need to share the resources that you need to share.
    Lets start by sharing the C drive on one of your
    computers. Right click on My Computer and select
    Explore. Right click on the C drive and select
    sharing. Select the Share As option and give the share
    a name such as C. Then select the Access type Full
    control if users need to read and right to the drive.

Note: You do not need to share the entire C drive for your users, you can select a specific directory on the C drive and only share that directory.

9.) Now we can share a printer. Click Start, settings
    Printers. Right click on the printer that you want to
    share and select sharing select Share As option and
    click OK.

That's it in therory, everyone should see the shares that you have setup either through Network Neibrohood or Add new printer.

10.) To connect to a shared drive. Double click on Network
     Neigbrohood, then double click on the machine name
     that has the shared drive that you want to connect
     to. Once you see the share C for example right click
     on it ans select Map network drive.

Note: you have an option as to what drive letter you want to map the share as. Typically your first maped drive should be set to F:

11.) To connect a printer, Click Start, Settings, Printers
     and bouble click on Add Printer and click Next.
     Select network printer option and click Next. Click
     Browse and find the computer name of the computer
     that has the printer that yu want to connect to.
     Double click on the computer and then the printer and
     click OK. Then Click Next. Dollow remaining prompts
     and install the correct printer driver.

You now have a fully functional peer to peer network.

G'day, g-money
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