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Networking is often ridiculously complicated, so making it actually work from afar is more of a stab in the dark than anything else.
I'm going to assume your machines are using windows XP, because it's the odds-on favourite, but if they're not, or they're running two different operating systems, then, um, it might be harder.
So, I make no guarantees, but try this (sorry if I'm telling you things you've done before, too, you never know - oh, and as always, it's probably best to read through it before jumping in and doing it, and thinking about the possibly security implications and whether or not you've done all this before):
open up control panel, and if it's not in 'classic view', switch it to that. Then open up the network connections part of control panel.
find whichever connection you're using to get to the router and right click on it, bring up its properties. Make sure that, in the box you see labelled "this connection uses the following items" that there's a File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks item, and that the box next to it is checked.
(If there is not a File and Print Sharing item, and you have run the setup network wizard before, something more serious is wrong with both your computers, give up now! But there will be one, probably.)
Then, go to the advanced tab, and go into the Windows Firewall settings.
I'd suggest turning the whole thing off, because it makes everything a lot easier for you, but it may make everything a lot easier for everyone else, as well. You are unlikely to be the target of malicious malingering, but you never know.
I'm not sure if it's possible to actually network smoothly without turning it off. You should, in theory, have a firewall in your router, which is probably a better bet.
regardless, go to the advanced tab, and click the ICMP settings tab. Checking everything is once again not entirely necessary, but at least check the first one - it'll make things a whole lot easier (it'll let you ping and be pinged by other machines on the network, so you can see if you can, um, see them, at least in some sense, even if you can't steal their files). The rest of them you can probably deal without.
Then find your connection to the router in the box at the top of the window you're in (reminder, as it's easy to get lost: the firewall settings advanced tab), select it, and click settings.
Ignore the first tab. The second tab, this time, is another ICMP list, this time you should probably check them all.
Apply all this and leave back into control panel (this may require rebooting). Launch the system component, and in the computer name tab of that component, make sure both your machines are in the same workgroup (not vital, but again makes things easier).
Now find a directory, any directory, that you want to share. You can use the root directory, but the option to share it may be disabled. For testing purposes, make a directory called 'temp' and then right click it, open its property page. click the sharing tab.
Actually, at this point, I think if you have windows firewall turned on, you will be unable to share the folder. Go turn it off. I am pretty sure you will need to turn off WF to share the root directory, but even then you'll have to go through several prompts to do it, but the method is similar and should be fairly clear.
Otherwise, if you can, click 'share this folder on the network' and 'let other users change my files' (as I assume you want to move things between computers sometimes).
Give the folder a share name, and apply it.
In theory, now, you'll be able to see your machines on the network (in explorer, under 'my network places', 'entire network','microsoft windows network',then whatever workgroup you chose, and then, hopefully, the two computers you've put on ther), but you'll probably have to reboot at least eight times for this to work, because computers are completely random machines which only pretend to have orderly problems and functions.
Also, in all likelihood, this won't work at all and you will be even more frustrated, for which I apologise.
There are cabled networking possibilities with firewire and USB2, firewire is easier as windows is set up to recognise it as a networking medium, but I don't know how to go about it, exactly, and hopefully you will have worked everything out without needing to resort to that sort of thing.
Good luck!
Anything that doesn't work out, feel free to question my ability and demand answers, I'll see what I can do... |
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