How to network WinMe to existing Win98 setup?

[tedbragg]

I'm running a ethernet 5 port setup. EAch machine has it's own static IP.

Our new machine came preloaded with WinMe and won't run without it. (they flashed the BIOS somehow, making it useless for anything except ME)

AFter configuring the network cards, protocols and services, rebooting, et al, the ME machine will not see the network.

Network Neighborhood is GONE in ME, the sappy My Network Places doesn't offer much help. We're on a peer-to-peer setup at the moment. Our server based hook-up will be configured later.

How do I get this puppy to see the other computers on the network? I ran the (un)Help system, and it said something to the effect the Me machine was using a name same as another computer. Not so. Each computer is named differently. (AND, each computer uses a seperate original copy of Windows98...I remember hearing how two computers with same install of Windows would trigger the ME to say 'same name')

[digital_d_17]

First, make sure the subnets are the same.

The thing with My Network Places in ME, is that it really is Network Neighborhood, but with a few "enhancements." If you look in the sidebar of the "My network places" window, there will be a "link" to 'View the entire network' or something to that effect. You should be able to see the other computers on the network then.

A couple of other things. Can the 98 machines see the ME computer in Network Neighborhood? And, can you manually type in the names of the other computers and navigate to them that way? What about pinging the other computers?

-Digital D.

[knucklebusted]

Sounds like digital_d_17 has you going in the right direction. You could also try pinging the other machines to verify connectivity.

Quick check list though, make sure you have Client for Microsoft and file and print sharing under Networking properties and that they are all bound to TCPIP. I also remove NetBEUI if it is there. You can also add IPX/SPX as it will work for non-ip networking.

If you open up a Start>Run box and type in \\ipaddress where ipaddress is the address of the other machine, you might be able to see it that way. I know this works in WinNT and Win2k but don't have a winme machine in front of me right now.

Good luck.

[darkmallard]

Like one of the previous guys said, make certain every PC has the same subnet mask, and that the IP addresses are on the same subnet, e.g. subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and IP addresses are 90.0.0.1, 90.0.0.2, 90,0.0.3, etc. You said that the Computer Names are different (double-check this on all machines), make certain the WORKGROUP name is the SAME on all machines, this is necessary for peer-to-peer connections. Test your protocol stack (make certain TCP/IP is working) with a loopback ping, always 127.0.0.1. Then ping yourself to get on the wire, check that you are getting a green light from your network card and hub, ping another machine like the previous person said. File and Print Sharing must be enabled (not the print part, but File sharing has to be) also. If none of this works, give us all the info from TCP/IP properties windows on some of the machines as well as Identification info. Excluding a hardware problem, it will work if setup properly.

[PassnThru]

Knucklebusted - does he really want to bind file sharing to TCP/IP? I thought you told me originally that was a security problem. I believe we added IPX to mine and bound file sharing to it.
Also, my experience with ME networking (albeit limited) shows that it is basically the same as 98. The only notable exception that I have seen is that ME will automatically scan your network for shares. In one case, I never had to add a network printer. ME found it and set it up automatically. I did find where you can turn this off but I don't remember where it was. In front of an NT machine now.

[This message has been edited by PassnThru (edited 02-01-2001).]