Setting up a connection for two computers using Windows Vista and Windows XP

[dabluephat]

Hi All,

I'm trying to connect two laptops through cross over cable, one using Windows Vista Home Basic, and the other is using Windows XP

I've done the following:

1. Connected the cable to the Ethernet Ports of both computers
2. Assigned the following IPs to both computers

Computer 1: 192.168.0.100
Computer 2: 192.168.0.119
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 for both of them

I left default gateway and DNS server blank

and then tried pinging one IP from the other computer it gave me "request time out" ,I made sure the cable is working and installed correctly.

Someone told me , that I needed to turn off "Fire Wall" on both computers when connecting them together,as it prohibits echoing and pinging between the two computers ,I turned off Windows Fire Wall on both computers, but on the computer using Windows Vista I have Norton Internet Security installed and it creates its own "Fire Wall", do I need to turn it off?, if so, how?

Then Finally, how do I create a "Working Group" so that I can access both computers from each end?.

Also, I would like to set them up, so that I can play War Craft using this connection, any idea how to do that?

I would really appreciate your response guys, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Dabluephat

 

[DelJo63]

Hi All,

I'm trying to connect two laptops through cross over cable, one using Windows Vista Home Basic, and the other is using Windows XP

I've done the following:

1. Connected the cable to the Ethernet Ports of both computers
2. Assigned the following IPs to both computers

Computer 1: 192.168.0.100
Computer 2: 192.168.0.119
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 for both of them

I left default gateway and DNS server blank

Oops; the default gateway of systemA must point to the systemB ip-address and
conversely

this will however, defeat all internet access for both systems. to have internet PLUS the sharing, you need a router.

Someone told me , that I needed to turn off "Fire Wall" on both computers

most FW's default to allow ping and far too many people suggest turning the FW off
as a fix when they ought to learn how to configure the FW. Tuning the FW off is
a last resort, "I give up" effort. caveat emptor

Then Finally, how do I create a "Working Group" so that I can access both computers from each end?.

right-click My Computer->Manage
on the top line right-click again->properties
click Computer Name Tab
you can set the Workgroup name from there.

Also, I would like to set them up, so that I can play War Craft using this connection, any idea how to do that?

If you own the game and it's installed on one system, you need only to configure
the FW on each system. Otherwise, you need to forget ALL OF THIS, get a router
and start over.

 

[SNGX1275]

this will however, defeat all internet access for both systems. to have internet PLUS the sharing, you need a router.

Thats not right. You can connect with a Crossover cable and share internet with file sharing.

Windows has a wizard specifically for this thing I don't know why so many people never run that. Only screw with stuff manually if the wizard doesn't work.

As far as Norton Internet Security, you definitely will have to open some ports on that to get this to work at all. I've never used that, mostly because of all the horrible things I hear about it, so I don't know where in that software you free up ports.

 

[DelJo63]

of course you can use ICS -- it's just a poor solution.
secondly, the requestion was narrowly defined to be sharing A-B and without
Internet access required, so I clarified a solution that was specific to the request
AND identified the impact of doing so :0

there's always more than one approach -- peace.

 

[SNGX1275]

Yeh, I admit I missed some of the point.

ICS probably wouldn't work since he wouldn't be able to choose the connection to the internet since he wouldn't have one. A router though is likely a minimum of a $35 purchase. And if no internet is required, then a hub is cheaper and would work just as well. That is if he doesn't want to go through with the manual setup.

Also, if no internet is required, disabling the firewall during these sessions is easier than opening up specific ports in NIS.

 

[DelJo63]

good follow-up -- we're on the same page

 

[dabluephat]

thank you very much guys for your responses, but do I need to set a default gateway for both systems?, I don't need internet, what default gateway do you suggest for both computers so that it works and pings successfully?

And what difference in configuring Windows Vista and XP for network set up are there, that I'm not aware of?

Thanks again guys , you ROCK!

 

[DelJo63]

reread post #2

each system MUST have a gateway. without it, traffic goes nowhere and you get timeouts