Section 16.3. The Network and Sharing Center


16.3. The Network and Sharing Center

Once you've set up the networking equipment, Vista does a remarkable job of determining how to configure everything. To see how well it's doing, visit the Network and Sharing Center. This, by the way, is where you set up the sharing of files, folders, printers, and multimedia files over the network.

To open the Center, choose Start Control Panel. In Classic view, open the Network and Sharing Center (Figure 16-2). It gives you an excellent central status screen for your network.

Figure 16-2. The Network and Sharing Center is where you specify how Vista talks to the network. The network map at the top gives you, at a glance, reassurance that you're connected both to your network and to the Internet.


To do anything with your network, however, you generally refer to the options listed in the task pane at the left side. Here's a summary.

16.3.1. "View computers and devices"

Click here to view icons that represent all the computers in your network, as shown in Figure 16-3. You can double-click any of the icons in this view to see which shared resources are available on it (such as music, files, folders, and printers).

Figure 16-3. This view shows all the computers and other networked gadgets in your vicinity. You can see that VISTA-DESKTOP has two entries for shared music and photos: the bottom-left icon lets you browse to see which users are sharing media, and the top-left icon takes you directly to bjepson's shared music library.


16.3.2. "Connect to a network"

This option brings up a list of available networks, including wireless networks and dial-up connections. Select a network and click Connect to establish a connection to it. You can disconnect from your current network by selecting it and clicking Disconnect.

In Figure 16-4, for example, the dialog box shows The Dude Behind You (a computer-to-computer network, probably set up by another user in the same Internet caf ); Cox25, which seems to be a neighbor's wireless network (and is password-protected); and linksys, which is a wide-open network.

Figure 16-4. This view of all available networks is especially useful if you're a laptopper. How do you know what WiFi networks are available in the spot where you're standing? Here, in this master list. (Hit F5 to refresh the listfor example, if a new network has just come online.)


16.3.3. "Manage wireless networks"

This option lets you control how Vista connects to wireless networks. You can drag and drop them to choose the priority of each network. That is, if Vista detects two wireless networks where you are, it will connect to the one closer to the top of the list.

If you're on a home or office network, clicking "View full map" makes Vista query the computers and devices on your network and draw a map of the results.

16.3.4. "Customize"

The first time you connect to a network, you're asked to specify whether it's a public or private network. This choice determines how friendly your computer will be with other devices on the network.

On a public network, like a wireless hot spot, Vista tries to be as stealthy as possible in an effort to keep your laptop invisible to bad guys attempting to sniff the airways. On a private (home or office) network, Vista is much more open about what it's sharing with other computers and people.

If you click Customize, the Set Network Location dialog box appears. Here, you can switch between public and private, select which icon you want to use to represent the network, or give the network a new name. (This name doesn't affect the wireless ID of the network, but it changes the name that appears in many of Vista's network dialog boxes.)

You can also click "Merge or delete network locations" to combine two or more locations into one, or delete a location that's no longer needed.

16.3.5. Testing the Network

After all of this setup, here's how you can find out whether or not the gods are smiling on your new network. Start by choosing Start Network.

The network window opens, revealing the folders and disks that your machine can "see" on other computers in the network. You should see the names and icons of the other computers you've set up, as shown in Figure 16-9. In the following pages, you can find out how to burrow into these icons, using the files and folders of other networked PCs exactly as though they were on your own computer.


Tip: All recent generations of Windows can "see" each other and work joyously side-by-side on the same network. On older machines, you would open the equivalent window by double-clicking the My Network Places or Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop instead of using the Start menu.

If you don't see the icons for your other computers, something has gone wrong. Check to see that:

  • Your cables are properly seated in the network adapter card and hub jacks .

  • Your router, Ethernet hub, or wireless access point is plugged into a working power outlet.

  • Your networking card is working. To check, open the System program in Control Panel System and Maintenance. Click Device Manager. Look for an error icon next to your networking cards name. See Chapter 12 for more on the Device Manager.

If you don't find a problem, visit the Network and Sharing Center and click Diagnose and Repair. If it has no suggestions that solve the problem, you'll have to call Microsoft or your PC company for help.




Windows Vista for Starters
Windows Vista for Starters: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 0596528264
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 175
Authors: David Pogue

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