I need help with my home network, please!!!

[Thanatos]

Hey all. i have 2 computers in my house and one router. My computer is connected by a wireless connection while the other is wired. how in the world do i get my computer to see the other??? i've tried and tried to no avail. mine is XP home and the other is Vista. how do i set up a network between these two?

 

[deanj20]

On the Windows XP Box, run the Network wizard - creating a workgroup. Then Run the Network wizard on the Vista box, and use the same workgroup. Let me know if you need a step-by-step.

 

[Thanatos]

how would i do that on vista? i'm not familiar with it at all.

 

[deanj20]

Do you know how to set it up on XP? Do that first: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/setup/homenet.mspx

Then join Vista to the workgroup: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Join-or-create-a-workgroup

 

[Thanatos]

done those now. how do i know I'm connected to it and visa-versa?

 

[deanj20]

On Vista (I think) Go to Start-->Computer-->Network

You should see your network computers.

On XP go to Start-->My Computer-->Network Places-->View Workgroup Computers

 

[Thanatos]

it only has my computer, not the other. damn.

 

[deanj20]

Well, if you followed the steps above exactly then I don't know why you wouldn't be able to...

I can do it for you via TeamViewer, but given your age, I would ask that you get your parent's permission first. They may not want a total stranger snooping around in their computers.

 

[Thanatos]

meh. its my computer, i built it. but i will do it again.

 

[deanj20]

Well, my handle on YIM is krazyc10_4 if you're interested in me taking a look. I would have you install TeamViewer on both computers and then give me the ID and passwords.

 

[Thanatos]

i have a bluetooth and a local area connection that arent connected and it wants me to 'Bridge' with them. i checked both of them. is that okay?

this box popped up after step number 9 on this site.

 

[deanj20]

No - just select the adapter you are using to connect to the router (wired or wireless) - don't bridge anything.

 

[Thanatos]

if i uncheck the boxes, it wont let me go to the next box

 

[deanj20]

I don't know what to tell you - I'd have to see it - can't you just tell it to ignore disconnected adapters or something?

 

[deanj20]

Or even disable the other adapters (for now)

 

[Thanatos]

ive done the wizard many times now... could it be my router?

 

[deanj20]

ive done the wizard many times now... could it be my router?

I don't think so. I think you're missing a step or something isn't setup right. But, if you know the IPs of the computers, then you can ping one from the other and see if they can even communicate that way, just to be sure. Do you have file and print sharing turned on both computers?
Vista: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Enable-file-and-printer-sharing
XP: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsfilesharing/ht/enable_disable.htm

 

[paulcheung]

Have you enable the files and printer sharing on both computers? and you need to share the folders or root directory of the hard drive too. On the vista you need to enable network discovery too.