Configuring a Workgroup Network


After your network hardware has been installed, whether it's wired or wireless, the next step in setting up a workgroup network is to run the Network Setup Wizard. This isn't optional. For security reasons, Windows won't enable file and printer sharing until this wizard has been run at least once. Beyond the settings made by the Network Setup Wizard, there are several features that you should consider and adjust manually. After discussing the wizard, this chapter covers the following topics:

  • IP addressing options

  • Networking with Windows 9x and Me

  • Designating a master browser

  • Providing a shared Internet connection

You may want to review these topics before starting to set up your network.

Using the Network Setup Wizard

Windows XP comes with a Networking Setup Wizard program that can automatically configure file sharing and Internet access for each of the computers on your network. The wizard lets you make a few basic choices, but otherwise takes care of all of the technical details for you. As I mentioned earlier, you have to run the Network Setup Wizard at least once in order to enable File and Printer sharing.

Note

If you're going to use Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing to share an Internet connection over your LAN, configure the computer that will be sharing its Internet connection first. Establish and test its Internet connection, and then configure the other computers. Internet Connection Sharing is discussed later in this chapter.


To start the wizard, click Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet Connections, and Set Up or Change Your Home or Small Office Network. Read the "Checklist for Creating a Network" if you want, and then click Next. Follow the wizard through the following steps.

Select a Connection Method

The wizard asks you to select a statement that best describes your computer. The choices can be confusing, so consider them each carefully . They are

  • This Computer Connects Directly to the Internet. The Other Computers...Connect...Through This Computer. Choose this if you want this computer to share its Internet connection with the rest of your LAN using Windows Internet Connection Sharing, which is discussed later in the chapter. This computer will connect to the Internet through a dial-up modem or a cable/DSL modem. In the latter case, you'll need two network adapters in this computer: one for the LAN connection and one to connect to the DSL or cable modem. In any case, be sure that you've already configured and tested your Internet connection before setting up the LAN.

  • This Computer Connects to the Internet Through Another Computer on My Network or Through a Residential Gateway. Choose this if your network has a hardware Internet connection sharing router, or if you've set up some other computer to share its connection with Internet Connection Sharing.

    Also, use this choice if your LAN has routed Internet service, such as that provided by a DSL, cable, ISDN, or Frame Relay router connected to your network hub, and the router for that service has been configured to filter out Windows networking traffic, which we'll discuss later in this chapter.

To get to the next three options, click Other. These alternatives are as follows :

  • This Computer Connects to the Internet Directly or Through a Network Hub. Other Computers on My Network Also Connect [this way]. Select this if your computer uses its own dial-up or direct DSL/cable Internet connection, but you do not want to use Windows's Internet Connection Sharing to share the connection with the rest of your LAN.

    Also, use this selection if you use "multiple-computer" cable Internet service with no router. Please read "Providing Shared Internet Access" later in this chapter for important warnings.

  • This Computer Connects Directly to the Internet. I Do Not Have a Network Yet. You would use this choice if you had a direct Internet connection (that is, a cable or DSL modem that uses a network adapter), but no LAN. Because you're setting up a LAN, this choice probably isn't appropriate.

    You do want to use this choice if you are setting up a network only to use a shared Internet connection, and don't want to share files with other computers. This might be the case if you are sharing an Internet connection in an apartment building or other public space, for instance. In this case, this choice indicates that you consider your network to be as untrustworthy as the Internet itself.

  • This Computer Belongs to a Network that Does Not Have an Internet Connection. Select this if your computer will connect to the Internet using Dial-Up networking or AOL, or if your computer will never connect to the Internet.

Make the appropriate selection and click Next.

Select Your Internet Connection

If you chose one of the "This computer is directly connected to the Internet" choices, Windows presents a list of options for making that connection, listing your network adapters and your configured dial-up connections. Choose the connection that is used to reach the Internet and click Next. If you use a dial-up or PPPoE connection (frequently used with DSL service), choose the appropriate dial-up connection. Otherwise choose the network adapter that connects to your broadband modem.

Give This Computer a Description and Name

Enter a brief description of the computer (such as its location or primary user ) and a name for the computer. Choose a name using just letters and/or numbers with no spaces or punctuation. Each computer on your LAN must have a different name.

If you're hard pressed to come up with names, try the names of gemstones, composers, Impressionist painters , or even Star Wars characters , as long as Mr. Lucas' lawyers don't hear about it. I use the names of islands in the Indonesian archipelagowith more than 25,000 to choose from there's little chance of running out of unique names!

Some Internet service providers, especially cable providers, require you use a name that they provide. (If you have a hardware connection sharing device hooked up to your cable modem, enter that name into the hardware device and use any names you want on your LAN.)

Name Your Network

Choose a name for your network workgroup. This name is used to identify which computers should appear in your list of network choices later on. All computers on your LAN should have the same workgroup name. If you have an existing network, enter the same workgroup name that the other computers use. Otherwise, you could pick a creative name like "WORKGROUP," or accept the Wizard's default "MSHOME."

Caution

Beware! If you run the wizard a second time, it will try to change your workgroup name to MSHOME. Re-enter the name you used the first time.

Also: The workgroup name must be different than all of the computer names.


File and Printer Sharing

The Wizard will ask whether you want turn on file and printer sharing, or turn it off. Select Turn On File and Printer Sharing unless your network will contain computers that you don't trust; that is, computers in a public area, or computers whose users you don't know, and so on. (If you later change your mind, or move your computer from one network to another, you can turn file sharing on or off using the Exceptions tab on the Windows Firewall control panel.)

Ready To Apply Network Settings

The wizard will let you review your selections. Click Next to proceed.

You're Almost Done...

You'll need to run the wizard on all of the computers on your LAN at least once. If all the computers use Windows XP, select Just Finish the Wizard, and then run the wizard each of your other computers. If you have computers running versions of Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, or 2000, you can create a disk that will let you run the wizard on these older machines, or you can use your Windows XP CD-ROM in these computers.

To use a disk, choose Create a Network Setup Disk, and insert a blank, formatted floppy disk. If you ran the wizard earlier and just changed some of the settings, choose Use the Network Setup Disk I Already Have, and re-insert the setup disk you created earlier. Otherwise, choose Just Finish the Wizard; I Don't Need to Run the Wizard on Other Computers."

Note

If you need to adjust the computer or workgroup name later, log on as a Computer Administrator, right-click My Computer, select Properties, and view the Computer Name tab. You can use a name-assignment wizard by clicking Network ID, or you can enter the information manually by clicking Change.


Note

If your network includes computers running Windows 95, 98 or Me, and you are using a shared Internet connection, I recommend that you install only the TCP/IP protocol on all computers, and configure them for Automatic TCP/IP configuration.

If your network includes computers running Windows 95, 98, or Me, and you are not using a shared Internet connection, I recommend that you install the NetBIOS protocol on Windows XP, as discussed later in this chapter under "Networking with Windows 9x and Me."


Now, continue with the next section to review the IP addressing choices made on your network.

IP Addressing Options

Windows uses TCP/IP as its primary network protocol. Each computer on the network needs to have a unique IP address assigned to it. There are three ways that IP addresses can be assigned:

  • Manually, in what is called static IP addressing. You would select an address for each computer and enter it manually.

  • Dynamically, through the DHCP service provided by Internet Connection Sharing, a Windows NT/200x Server, or a hardware router.

  • Automatically, though Windows' Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing (APIPA) mechanism. If Windows computers are configured for dynamic IP addressing but there is no DHCP server present, Windows automatically assigns IP addresses.

By default, a newly installed network adapter will be set up for dynamic addressing. I recommend that you do not rely on APIPA to configure your network. In my experience, it can cause horrendous slowdowns on your computers. If you don't have a device or computer to provide DHCP service, configure static TCP/IP addresses.

Configuring Dynamic (DHCP) IP Address Assignment

By default, Windows sets up new network adapters to use dynamic IP address assignment, so for new adapters, you don't need to take any additional configuration steps.

Note

If you used static addressing in the past, just view the properties page for your network adapter, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), click Properties, and set both the IP Address and DNS settings to Obtain an Address Automatically.


You will need a computer or hardware device to provide DHCP service to provide configuration information to the other computers. This is provided automatically by any Windows computer that runs Windows Internet Connection Sharing (there can be at most one such computer on a network), or by a connecting sharing router device. And, you can run the DHCP service on Windows NT or 200x Server; these operating systems can be used on Workgroup networks as well as domain networks.

If you are using Windows Internet Connection Sharing, it will assign IP address 192.168.0.1 with a network mask of 255.255.255.0 to the network adapter in the sharing computer. Other computers should be configured for dynamic addressing and will receive addresses from 192.168.0.2 on up.

If you are configuring a hardware Internet Connection Sharing router, you will need to enable and configure its DHCP server. Usually, the DHCP feature is enabled by default, so you will not need to configure it. If you do, you can use the following settings:

DHCP server:

Enabled

Server IP address:

192.168.0.1

DHCP starting address:

192.168.0.100

Number of addresses:

100

DNS server(s):

(as provided by your ISP)


Some routers prefer to use a different subnet (range of network addresses), for instance 192.168.1. x . Whichever range you use, be sure to use the same subnet range for any static IP addresses you assign. There is more information on setting up IP address ranges later in this chapter in the discussion of enabling Remote Desktop.

Configuring Static IP Addresses

There are three situations where you'll want to set up static (fixed) IP addresses for some or all of your computers:

  • If your network has no shared Internet connection and no router, you'll want to assign static IP address for all of your computers, so you won't be slowed down by the Automatic IP configuration mechanism.

  • If you have computers that you want to reach from the Internetfor example, one or more computers that you want to be able to use via Remote Desktopyou'll want to assign a static IP address at least to those computers; the others can have their IP addresses assigned automatically.

  • If you have network-attached printers or print servers, you'll need to assign static IP addresses to these devices. You'll need to enter these addresses when you're setting up Windows to use the printers.

The goal in assigning static IP addresses is to ensure that each computer on your network has a unique IP address, shared by no other, and that the other TCP/IP setup information for each computer is the same.

I suggest you make a worksheet that lists the setup information for your network. Determining what settings to use depends on the type of network you have, which will be one of the following three choices:

  • If your network does not have a router, and you are not using Windows Internet Connection Sharing, use the following values for your computers:

    IP Address:

    192.168.0.x, where x is a number from 200 on up

    Network Mask:

    255.255.255.0

    Gateway Address:

    leave blank

    DNS Server:

    leave blank


  • If your network has a router, connect it and turn on one of your computers. Be sure that the router is configured and working, according to the manufacturer's instructions, and be sure that you can view web pages from the attached computer. Then, Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. In the command prompt window, type ipconfig /all and press Enter. Make a note of the IP address, network mask, gateway address, and DNS server listed in the window.

    Then, use the following values for any computers and devices that need a static IP address:

    IP Address:

    a.b.c.x, where a.b.c are the first three numbers of the IP address you saw in the Command Prompt window, and x is a number from 200 on up. This might end up being something like 192.168.1.200.

    Network Mask:

    As noted in the command prompt window, usually 255.255.255.0.

    Gateway Address:

    As noted in the command prompt window, usually something like 192.168.0.1.

    DNS Server:

    As noted in the command prompt window, usually the DNS addresses supplied by your ISP, or in some cases the same as the gateway address.


  • If you are using Windows Internet Connection Sharing, use the following values for those computers and devices that need a static IP address:

    IP Address:

    192.168.0. x, where x is a number from 200 on up

    Network Mask:

    255.255.255.0

    Gateway Address:

    192.168.0.1

    DNS Server:

    192.168.0.1


I suggest that you then list on your worksheet all of your computers and any printer devices. Next to each, write down "automatic" if you are letting the computer get its address automatically, or write down the IP address that you will be setting manually. This way you can keep track of which numbers have been used already. The finished worksheet might look something like this:

 My Network: Information from command prompt window: IP Address:      192.168.0.2    (so: all IP addresses will start with 192.168.0) Network Mask:    255.255.255.0 Gateway Address: 192.168.0.1 DNS Servers:     10.11.12.13                  10.21.22.23 My IP Address assignments: java            192.168.0.200  (want to access from Internet with Remote Desktop) sumatra         automatic bali            automatic HPJetDirect     192.168.0.201  (print server) 

With this worksheet in hand, configure each computer or device that requires a static IP address.

To assign an IP address to a computer running Windows XP, use the following steps:

1.
Log on as a Computer Administrator.

2.
Open the Network Connections window. Right-click the entry or icon for your LAN adapter (usually labeled Local Area Connection) and select Properties.

3.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties.

4.
On the General tab, enter the selected IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, and one or two DNS server IP addresses, as shown in Figure 7.7.

Figure 7.7. Enter static IP address information on the General tab.


5.
You can configure your preferred Internet domain name (called the preferred DNS suffix ) on the Network Identification page in the System Properties dialog. To get there, right-click My Computer and select Properties, or select Advanced, Network Identification in the Network Connections window. View the Computer Name tab, click Change, and then click More.

You can also enter a preferred Internet domain name for each individual network or Internet connection. You might want to use your company's domain name on the Network connection, and your ISP's domain name on a dial-up connection. To do this, view the network connection's properties dialog, click the Advanced button, select the DNS tab, and enter the domain name under DNS Suffix for This Connection, as shown in Figure 7.8.

Figure 7.8. Enter per-connection DNS information on the connection's Advanced Properties DNS tab.


Also, if your ISP has provided you with more than two DNS server addresses, click Add to enter additional addresses on this same tab.

6.
Unless your network's DNS server supports dynamic IP address registration, uncheck Register This Connection's Addresses in DNS.

7.
Click OK to close the dialogs.

Configuring Additional Useful Network Services

Besides the TCP/IP protocol and network services that are installed by default with Windows XP, there are some additional services that you may want to install manually as part of your network setup.

Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client

If you are using a hardware Internet sharing router or Windows Internet Connection Sharing, you should install the Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client on all of your Windows XP computers. This service places an icon in each computer's Network Connections folder that lets users monitor and manage the Internet connection that is hosted on the sharing computer or the router.

To install the Discovery and Control Service, follow these steps on each computer:

1.
Log on as a Computer Administrator.

2.
Open the Network Connections window.

3.
From the menu, select Advanced, Optional Networking Components.

4.
Select Networking Services and click Details.

5.
Check both Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client and UPnP User Interface, and click OK.

6.
Click Next.

A comparable service is available on Windows 98 and Me computers as well.

When this service has been installed, an icon will appear in your Network Connections window for your router or other network devices. You can double-click this icon to open the device's setup and control page. What appears will vary from device to device, but it's usually the device's built-in setup web page.

Universal Plug and Play

If you use a hardware connection sharing router or Internet Connection Sharing, you may also want to consider enabling a feature called Universal Plug and Play (UPnP). UPnP provides a way for software running on your computer to communicate with the router. Here's what UPnP can do:

  • It provides a means for the router to tell software on your computer that it is separated from the Internet by Network Address Translation. Some softwareRemote Assistance and the video and audio parts of Windows Messenger in particularask the computer on the other end of the connection to establish a connection back to your IP address. On a network with a shared connection, however, the IP address that the computer sees is not the public IP address that the shared Internet connection uses. UPnP lets software like Remote Assistance find out what its public IP address is. It also provides a way for the router to suggest alternate port numbers if several computers on the network want to provide the same service (for example, if several users send Remote Assistance requests ).

  • It provides a means for software running on the network to tell the router to forward expected incoming connections to the correct computer. Remote Assistance and Windows Messenger again are two good examples. When the computer on the other end of the connection starts sending data, the router would not know to send it to your computer. UPnP lets UPnP-aware application programs automatically set up forwarding in the router.

  • UPnP provides a means for printers and perhaps other types of as-yet-undeveloped hardware devices to announce their presence on the network, so that Windows can automatically take advantage of the services they provide.

UPnP has a downside, howeverit has no built-in security mechanism, so any program on any computer on your network could potentially take control of the router and open "holes" for incoming connections. (I am confident that we will soon see computer viruses and Trojan Horses that take advantage of this.) However, Windows Firewall or your third-party firewall package will still provide some protection. Windows Firewall will warn you if an undesired program prepares to receive incoming network connections, and this cannot be disabled as long as you are not using a Computer Administrator user account. In addition, most third-party firewalls inform you if an unrecognized program requests either incoming or outgoing network connections. UPnP abuse is not yet a serious problem. If you use Remote Assistance or Windows Messenger, the benefits that UPnP provides outweigh the risks.

To use UPnP, you must enable the feature in your router. It's usually disabled by default. If your router doesn't currently support UPnP, you may have to download and install a firmware upgrade from the manufacturer. Most routers now do support UPnP.

By default, Windows XP provides support for detecting UPnP enabled routers. If you have a UPnP router or Windows Internet Connection Sharing running on your network, the Network Connections screen should display an icon for the router as shown in Figure 7.9.

Figure 7.9. If your router supports UPnP, an Internet Gateway icon should appear in Network Connections.

Note

If the icon doesn't appear, click Advanced, Optional Networking Components, select Networking Services, and click Details. Be sure that Internet Gateway Device Discovery and Control Client is checked. While you're here, check UPnP User Interface as wellthis enables support for future UPnP devices.

Then, on the task list, click Change Windows Firewall Settings. View the Exceptions tab and be sure that UPnP Framework is checked.


If you right-click the Internet Connection icon and select Status, you'll see a dialog similar to the one shown in Figure 7.10, displaying the status of the router's connection. If your Internet service uses a connection-based system like PPPoE or standard dial-up service via a modem, this dialog may display a button that lets you connect to and disconnect from your ISP.

Figure 7.10. Router Status displayed via UPnP.


Click Properties and then Settings to display a list of network services for which the router is forwarding incoming connections to computers on your network. This list shows only forwarding settings made via UPnP. Services you've forwarded using the setup screens on your router, for example, Remote Desktop, as discussed later in this chapter, do not appear here and new settings should not be made herethey usually disappear when the router is reset.

Networking with Windows 9x and Me

If you have computers running older versions of Windows as well as XP, you'll very likely want to network themif not permanently, at least long enough to transfer files from an old computer to a newer one. What most people quickly find out is that it's not as simple as they would hope. Although all versions of Windows use the same basic networking protocols to share files and printers, compatibility problems crop up more often than not. And although some of the problems are easily explained and fixed, others remain mysterious and intermittent. (We Windows users are used to that, aren't we?) The most significant issue is that Microsoft has changed the default networking protocol from NetBEUI to TCP/IP. Windows XP doesn't even overtly offer NetBEUI as an option, while older versions of Windows installed NetBEUI by default, and often didn't install TCP/IP at all. Unless you take steps to give all of your computers one common protocol, they won't be able to talk to one another.

There are three ways to get around this problem:

  • You can install TCP/IP on your older computers.

  • You can install NetBEUI on Windows XP (it's there, for the time being, but it's hard to find).

  • You can use the IPX/SPX-Compatible Protocol as the common protocol.

The best route to follow won't be clear until you consider these other points:

  • NetBEUI is not compatible with large, routed networks. In the future, NetBEUI may not be available at all. So, although it's an acceptable approach on small networks for the present, it's not a good long- term solution. It probably won't be usable at all with XP's successor, Windows Vista.

  • NetBEUI and IPX/SPX require no configuration, so they work "out of the box." TCP/IP has to be properly configured to work. If you're not using a shared Internet connection, using one of these two protocols will simplify your life.

  • If your network includes Macs, UNIX, and/or Linux and you want to share files with them as well, you'll definitely want to use TCP/IP for file sharing. TCP/IP is also the standard on all enterprise networks.

  • Windows networks definitely don't like to have different mixes of protocols installed on different machines. It's best to install the same protocol or set of protocols on every computer. It doesn't matter which, as long as every computer has the same mix.

With this in mind, I recommend that you follow one of these three plans:

  • On a home or small-office network, if you plan on retiring the older Windows computers within the next couple of years , go ahead and install NetBEUI on Windows XP (as well as all of your older computers). In the next section, I'll tell you how to install NetBEUI on Windows XP.

    Install TCP/IP on your older computers, as well.

    For a one-time network copy from an old computer to a new one, this is probably the best option. After the old computer is gone, you can uninstall NetBEUI from Windows XP.

  • If you have a larger number of computers and don't want to rely on NetBEUI's remaining available in the future, install the IPX/SPX-Compatible Protocol on all computers. Remove or disable NetBEUI from all computers on which it is installed.

  • If you're using a shared Internet connection, disable or remove NetBEUI and IPX/SPX from all computers. You'll have to expect some flakiness and sensitivity to the order in which your computers are booted up. You may find that some computers see others but not vice versa. If possible, boot a Windows XP machine first and keep it running all the time.

Installing NetBEUI on Windows XP

If you want to install the NetBEUI protocol on Windows XP in order to network with older version of Windows, follow these steps. You'll need your Windows XP Installation CD:

1.
Log on as a Computer Administrator user.

2.
Insert the Windows Installation CD into your computer's CD or CD/DVD drive.

3.
Open Windows Explorer and locate folder \Valueadd\MSFT\Net\NetBEUI on the installation CD.

4.
Drag file nbf.sys to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers (or wherever Windows XP is installed on your computer).

5.
Drag file netnbf.sys to C:\Windows\inf . Now, you can install the NetBEUI protocol using the usual procedure, which I'll recap here.

6.
Click Start, Network Connections (or click Start, and then right-click My Network Places).

7.
Open the connection corresponding to your network adapter (usually Local Area Connection). Click Properties.

8.
Click Install. Select Protocol, and click Add.

9.
Select NetBEUI and click OK.

10.
Close all the dialogs by clicking OK.

You won't need to restart Windows XP, but it may take a few minutes for your Windows XP computer to appear in the Network Neighborhood lists of other computers on your network. If it doesn't appear within 20 minutes, restart all of your computers, starting with the XP machine.

Installing SPX/IPX

If you want to install SPX/IPX as a network protocol, follow these steps:

1.
View the Network Connections window, right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties.

2.
Click Install, select Protocol, and click Add.

3.
Hightlight NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS Compatible Transport Protocol and click OK.

Designating a Master Browser

Windows uses a database of known online computers to build the display known variously as "Network Neighborhood, "Computers Near Me," or "View Workgroup Computers." The service runs on one primary computer called the "master browser," which is determined by an automatic "election" held by the computers on the network. In addition, on a larger network some computers may be elected as backup browser servers.

When you are running a network with different versions of Windows, this service will not function correctly; the election goes haywire or the database is filled incorrectly or other problems occur, and the Network Neighborhood display won't function correctly even though the computers clearly can communicate with each other (for example, one can map network drives to folders shared by the invisible computers).

If you find that this occurs on your network, you may want to force the master browser service to run on a designated Windows XP computer that is always left on. This can help stabilize the list of local computers.

To make this work you have to (a) configure one computer to always be the master browser, and (b) configure all of the other computers never to offer to be the master.

To force the setting in Windows XP, 2000, and NT computers, you have to edit the Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters . There are two values that can be altered (refer to Chapter 6, "Tweaking and Tuning Windows," for more details on editing the Registry):

Value

Possible Settings

IsDomainMasterBrowser

true This computer is master browser

 

False Master is determined by election

MaintainServerList

No Never serve as master

 

Yes Ask to be the preferred master

 

Auto Offer to be master if needed


For Windows 98, the setting is made in the Control Panel. Open the Network applet, select File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and click Properties. Under Browse Master, change the setting from Default to Disabled.




Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows
Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0789736950
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 128

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