Creating or Joining a Network

In the previous chapter, I discussed the benefits of having a network, whether it's between two computers in your home, ten in your office, or thousands spanning the globe. In this chapter, I'll show you what you'll need to buy in order to install your own home or small-office network using Windows XP Professional. Later in the chapter, I'll cover the actual network installation.

This chapter is directed primarily toward a small group of users, at home or at work, who want to set up a LAN for themselves. This type of LAN is called a peer-to-peer network because no one computer has a central role in managing the network. This type of network doesn't take full advantage of all of Windows XP Professional's networking capabilities, but unless you have more than 10 computers to network, you probably don't need all those capabilities. For you, a peer-to-peer network is just the thing to let you share files and printers with your co-workers or housemates. Creating a speedy, useful network isn't nearly as hard or expensive as you might think. In fact, once you've done the planning and shopping, you should be able to get a network up and running in an hour or two.

If you're adding a computer to an existing network, you can skip ahead to the section titled "Installing Network Adapters." If you're on a corporate network, you probably won't have to handle any of the installation details yourself at allyour end-user support department will likely take care of all of this for you and you can just skip ahead to the next chapter.

NOTE

If you are part of a Windows 200x Domain network, or if your company uses Remote Installation Services and Management features, you probably won't need to, and might not even be able to, view or change any of the network settings or control panels described in this chapter.

If you're setting up a new network, though, just read on. This chapter should give you all the information you need.

NOTE

Windows has a feature called a Direct Network Connection that lets you use a serial, parallel, or infrared port to connect two computers without requiring a network adapter. It's not very fast, but it's adequate for one-time file transfers. I'll cover Direct Connection in Chapter 18, "Windows Unplugged: Remote and Portable Networking."

By the way, when I say "Windows 200x Server" I mean "Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, or its successors."