Problem w/ ICS under WinXP

[jrthro]

I'm having trouble with networking my two PCs together and with using Internet Connection Sharing on Windows XP.

Here's the scenario.

Before I got my DSL modem, I used WinXP's networking wizard to network my eMachines T2042 together with my older eMachines 400i, and that worked fine. I had them connected directly to each other using the T2042's built-in Realtek-based Ethernet adapter, a cat5 crossover cable, and a D-Link Ethernet card in the 400i. I was able to see each computer from the other one, I could share folders and files, and everything was fine. The T2042 is running WinXP Home and the 400i is running Win98 (not Win98SE).

Then I got the DSL modem, so I set up the T2042 with SBC Yahoo! DSL Internet access using the built-in Ethernet adapter and external Efficient (I think; I'm writing this from work) DSL modem. Everything works great, either with SBC's PPPoE software or with WinXP's PPPoE software. I've tried them both, so I know they both work.

Of course, there's no physical connection between the two computers at this point.

Now I want to set up networking and ICS between the two machines, and I knew that I'd need two Ethernet adapters in the ICS host machine. I installed the Ethernet card that came with the DSL modem in the T2042. I didn't need it for DSL since the T2042 has a built-in Ethernet adapter. When I turn the T2042 on and everything is
running, I get a "TCP/IP Error" message from the SBC Yahoo! DSL Connection Manager (PPPoE software which is launched from the Startup group), even though it still makes
the DSL connection. This is before I try to set up networking. When I try to use the Network Connection wizard on the T2042 to set up networking between the two PC's, it ends with an error message. Looking at the Device Manager under System Properties,
the built-in Ethernet adapter and the newly-installed Ethernet card are both Realtek-based; in fact, they have the same description except for the #2 after the description of the card.

I'm new to Windows XP and new to setting up Windows networking (although it worked fine before I installed DSL and the second Ethernet adapter), and so far, I've done everything using the wizards.

I'm wondering what the next step should be. To keep costs at a minimum, I want to keep the setup as it is; that is, directly connecting the two machines with a crossover cable.

Any suggestions? Step-by-step procedures are always appreciated!

I wouldn't mind using the AnalogX Proxy Server described at sysopt.com, but I'd really like to know why things aren't working with my current setup.

Thanks.

-John-

[bert202]

So now you have two connections and two cards...

Make sure the network connection has the right card. You maybe trying to run your two computer network on a card connected to a dsl modem.

Try not being connected to dsl when you set up your network. Call the sbc yahoo people. (I've used sbc yahoo before and i've found that the later you call the quicker you get help. ;))

Exactly what error does it give you, the one from the wizard and the tcp/ip error.

[jrthro]

Last night, I got everything to work.

I re-installed the Ethernet NIC in the XP machine, but in a different slot. I have no idea if that made any difference, but I didn't get the TCP error message from the DSL Connection Manager, so that was good.

Then I followed the directions I found at homenethelp.com to get both the DSL connection and the home LAN working, which basically meant running the network setup wizard and then making sure all of the settings were what they needed to be.

I could share files, run things on each PC from the other one, and even share the printer.

But I STILL couldn't get Internet Explorer or Netscape on the client (Win98) machine to access the Internet.

It was pretty late last night, so I gave up trying to figure out why I couldn't access the Internet from the client machine, and I installed the AnalogX proxy server on the XP machine. Then I set up MSIE and Netscape on the Win98 machine to access the Internet through a proxy, as described in the AnalogX documentation, and voila! No more problems.

I still need to secure the proxy and/or turn on the XP machine's Internet Connection Firewall, but otherwise, all is good.

And I am a happy, though tired, camper.