[onionblaster]

I'm looking for some help trying to set up a wireless network in my house. Here is what I know:

-I have a modem plugged into my wall, which is plugged into a netgear MR814 router that is a few years old.

-The router is plugged right into the back of my dell dimension desktop computer. my desktop (in my room) doesn't have a wireless card.

-The laptop downstairs does have a wireless card and is connected to the internet.

What I want to do is set up a home network between these two computers so that we can share files and a printer between them (the printer is in my room, I want to be able to print from the laptop downstairs).

I tried running the network setup wizard but i got an error saying "Cannot Complete the Network Setup Wizard. An error occurred during configuration of the network on this computer. You can configure the network manually, or you can run the wizard again with different settings."

I've tried running the "Wireless network setup wizard," but part of that involved plugging a flash drive into my "wireless access point," and I either don't know what that is or I can't plug the flash drive into it.

I'm at a total loss, so if anyone can help me (or direct me to somewhere where someone else can) I'd be supremely thankful. Thanks!

 

[Darkestred]

going to type this really fast. There are other ways around this. One, you can buy a print server device, which will make the printer its on node on the network or you can go to start ----> settings ----> printers, right click on the printer and "share as".

you would share files the same way. Whatever directory, for instance if you wanted to share D:/Music right click on the folder called music on your d drive and select properties. There will be a sharing tab, select that. If you're running xp, there will be a blue link about warning you about sharing, select that. From here you can share your folders. There are other ways to share drives, but im out the door. Any other questions, place them here and i or many others will help you out.

 

[AuroraProject]

Make sure all computers on the network are in the same workgroup.

 

[onionblaster]

thanks. i just tried sharing the printer on my desktop, but it doesn't show up on the laptop. in fact, my whole computer isn't showing up as connected to the network. thanks for the help

 

[AuroraProject]

Are you running XP on both computers?

 

[onionblaster]

yeah. i think part of the problem might be we had a network set up a few years ago with the same hardware but we got new computers since then. I think the network may still exist but I don't know what to do about taht.

 

[AuroraProject]

Ok, on both computers do the following:

Click Start>Control Panel>System, click on the Computer Name tab and look at the Workgroup entry, are both computers on the same Workgroup?

 

[onionblaster]

great! I think that worked. I switched the laptop to the workgroup that the desktop was on, and then the printer showed up under printers and faxes.

yep, just tried a test print, selected that printer, and it works! I can always count on head-fi, can't I. thanks a lot

 

[AuroraProject]

Glad to help.