Help to network work pcs

ScBHavoK

ScBHavoK

ScBHavoK

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Joined
24 Mar 2009
Posts
152
Location
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Tried googling what I'm trying to do but finding it very confusing
Hoping someone can clear it up here! Not very clued up on networking please be kind :)

We have 2 pcs running xp networked via a getnet switch. A cable between pc1's mobo ethernet port to switch and a cable from switch to pc2's mobo ethernet port. This has worked fine for accessing each pcs harddrive and printer sharing etc for the past 7 years or so.

We recently had broadband installed in the unit and now have a netgear dgn2200 v4 router in place. We tried running a cable from router to switch but won't work. I'm unsure if the switch can share out the broadband connection or not.

I don't know if this is right what I'm wanting to do or if there's an easier way around this but .... I have a spare nic out of an old machine. If I install this in pc1 can I then cable this to router and share net connection through the existing network?

Any help appreciated
 
You do just need to connect the switch to the router, or connect the PCs directly to the router.

If you've had the PCs connected without a router then it's very likely they've been configured to use fixed IP address.

Change the IPv4 settings on both PCs to automatic and they'll pickup their IP addresses from the router and everything should work.

If you need to keep the PCs on their existing IPs then post back with full details of the network configuration for both PCs.

Edit: I wouldn't be too keen to connect XP PCs to the Internet.
 
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Thanks for the reply just for the record the switch is model
GS-115P if that makes any difference.

Do you mean I can do away with switch and just run a ethernet cable directly to router from both pcs?

Will this be the best option do you think?

What I'm hoping is to still be able to access each others harddrive and print from both pcs as well as have net access on both pcs.
Will this also be safe do you know? ie hds accessible over the net?

Thanks again
 
Windows XP is full of security holes and potential avenues of attack that are no longer patched. I concur with Bremen's statement. Connecting two Windows XP machines to the internet is potentially a bad idea without at least some form of dedicated hardware security in between. No possibility of upgrading or replacing them?
 
MissChief said:
Windows XP is full of security holes and potential avenues of attack that are no longer patched. I concur with Bremen's statement. Connecting two Windows XP machines to the internet is potentially a bad idea without at least some form of dedicated hardware security in between. No possibility of upgrading or replacing them?
Click to expand...

If you use the EPOS registry hack they're still supported ;) Down side is you also get the EPOS specific security patches to download.
 
If both PCs have fixed IP via the network adapter make sure the gateway is the router's IP (default is either .1 or .254), and then fill the DNS section with 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
 
Thanks for all your input but we have decided to just get a couple of usb WiFi pens for the time being. We have a network technician coming up from another branch in a few weeks to set us properly
 
You may find that adding wireless causes you a new set of problems. It might work, but it'll depend on how the existing network is configured.

The settings you need to change to get it working properly are simple enough to deal with.

If you are interested in getting it working properly then start by opening a command prompt and typing 'IPCONFIG /ALL' (without the quotes). Post the results here.
 
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