[pchelpers] Re: Networking - Calling on all computer gurus for help

Hi gang,

Thank you for all your mail concerning my networking problem.  I am =
saving
all the emails I received. My son came to visit from Toronto =
unexpectedly
and I spent the day with him. Now I have to study for the TMS and =
Service
Meeting tomorrow night. The next two days I have to work. That means I =
will
not be able to work on the laptop until Thursday. You will hear from me =
then
(I am sure you will.)=20

Thank you for your help.
Inge




-----Original Message-----
From: pchelpers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx =
[mailto:pchelpers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Ekhart GEORGI (last name last)
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 6:53 PM
To: pchelpers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pchelpers] Re: Networking - Calling on all computer gurus for =
help


______________________________________________________________
Please include this message in your reply so that it contains my =
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Hi Inge

I'm pretty new at home networking too, but maybe i can help a bit, at=20
least by preventing you from wasting time for the same reasons i did.=20
Actually i've had a 98 + 95 network for a few years already, but i=20
didn't set that up. I chickened out and paid my ISP to install that=20
together with the broadband when i heard how many hours, days, and=20
nerves often get wasted with network problems.

When i bought my new XP (i still regret not buying a Mac! -- but i'll be =

getting Linux soon), i thought i'd just try and see if the MS hype about =

XP and easy networking is true. Haha, a good example of M$ lies. They=20
discontinued support of the excellent, tried, problem-free, and (if i=20
remember the experts correctly) automatically self-configuring NetBEUI=20
protocol so far used in Windows and expect you to undo all settings and=20
protocols in older MS(!) machines if you want to connect an XP to them.

You probably know this, and probably also that the experts are furious=20
that MS chose the same protocol (TCP/IP) for file sharing that is used=20
in the Internet. This makes it quite easy for hackers to break into many =

computers, depending on the hardware configurations. (And as you also=20
probably know, the XP firewall is a bad joke since it only controls=20
traffic in; you'll never know if you've got a trojan sending out=20
thousands of spam emails a day.)

Before you do anything else, make sure you always restart *all*=20
computers *individually* even if you changed a setting on only one of=20
them. Next bet would be to disable all firewalls, and since ZoneAlarm is =

notoriously autonomous and badly designed (seriously consider switching=20
to Sygate -- it's free and much better), you might save a lot of wasted=20
time by *temporarily* uninstalling it to make sure it's not doing=20
something despite being "disabled" that prevents the PC from seeing the=20
laptop.

Next, tell us what operating systems and what hardware (routers, modems=20
etc.) you have. Take a look at homenethelp.com; their diagrams can help=20
even though, for example, my case of a combined ADSL modem + router is=20
missing.

This would be your safest bet in every sense of the word, i.e. safe,=20
foolproof, and fairly easy:
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/HomeNet-config.asp

Make sure you understand the words of caution (i didn't since my example =

was not in the diagrams, and pictures make you think nothing else is=20
possible) before you proceed with this method:
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/net.asp

If you have too much time on your hands, you might want to read about=20
one example of how i've been wasting my time with badly designed guides=20
for networking newbies and with techies with minimal people and=20
communication skills:
http://forums.practicallynetworked.com/showthread.php?s=3D&postid=3D9981#=
post998
1.=20
If i'd known this was going to be such a hell and require so much time,=20
i'd have paid someone to do it for me. Instead, i wasted most of my=20
vacation on this!

Ekhart



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Unexplored, unpredictable emotions control our lives, whether we like it =

or not. That=92s why, seen from outside, we act so foolishly, why we are =

continually making the wrong decisions. This is called life.
- Kati Outinen
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