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Tech Tips / Windows XP / Networking

Take advantage of the Home Networking Wizard

Microsoft included this special wizard to help you configure your home network. With this wizard, you don't have to manually configure any of your home computers. All you have to do is run the wizard on all of them. After the wizard configures the settings on all the computers, you'll be able to share files between them and even connect to the Internet if one of your computers has an Internet connection.

Here's what to do. Run the wizard on the machine that has the direct Internet connection first. Log on as an administrator and open the Network Connections folder in Control Panel. On the Network Tasks pane, select Set Up A Home Or Small Office Network.

You can also start the wizard by going to Start | All Programs | Accessories | Communications | Network Setup Wizard.

This starts a wizard that will ask you some simple questions and configure the computer based on your answers.

Next, run the wizard on all other computers on the network. Windows XP computers will already have the wizard installed. If you have other clients (such as Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, or Windows Millennium), you'll have to start the wizard from the Windows XP CD-ROM. Put the CD into your drive and select Perform Additional Tasks when the Welcome To Microsoft Windows XP dialog box appears. If the dialog box doesn't appear when you insert the CD, just double-click the Setup.exe file in the root folder of the CD. On the What Do You Want To Do screen, select Set Up A Home Or Small Office Network, which will install the wizard.

Running the wizard on all the computers properly configures your network and makes it ready to use. However, if you have computers running Windows 2000, you can't use the wizard; you must configure them manually.