Reformat hard drive and networking question

TRDCorolla1

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A lot of you know I have a small network setup for my laptop and PCs. Here's my question:

If I were to reformat my hard drive, would I lose all my networking information (my MAC and IP filters)? Will the network still detect my PC after a complete reformat and reinstall? I'm going to setup file and print sharing again. I may have to configure my firewall too to accept the IP address and everything. Will my IP address be the same on the reformatted computer? I'm sure the MAC will be because it is hardcode into the NIC. What a task.

Where is all the networking stuff saved anyways? On the router?
 
Your MAC is hard coded as you stated ... so you wont lose that information. Your ip address is another story. Is your router set to issue DHCP? If so, then as long as your NIC is configured to receive an ip address automatically, it will get one assigned to it from the router. Odds are ... it may even be the same one as you had prior to reformat, because the router has already matched an ip address with your mac address ... therefore will probably give the same address again. Unless of course it's been assigned to another pc in the meanwhile.

If your router does not issue DHCP ... then you will have to manually enter your IP address, which if you've written it down as it was before, then you will be able to input the same ip address.

After reformatting ... you'll need to confirm that your NIC has drivers installed. Depending on your NIC ... XP will be able to install a generic driver to have it function on a basic level. If XP doesn't recognize your NIC, then you'll need to go the NIC or mobo manufacturer's site and download drivers.

Good Luck
 
I believe it is setup as DHCP. What I'm worried about also is I configured my router to only allow the IP address and MAC from my laptop and desktop to access the router. If I do end up getting a new IP address (I'm sure it will be in a range of private addresses), I may not access the router at all on the network. The desktop part will be screwed.

I can still interface with the router through wireless means with my laptop and configure the router from there? I never tried accessing the router from the laptop before.
 
hmmm ... which pc are you reformatting?

And you mean you've set your router for MAC Filtering ... right?
 
as long as your NIC is functioning ... with correct drivers ... then you should be able to access your router and configure things as needed. If you have problems then you might have to manually assign your desktop an ip address, subnet mask, default gateway (router) to be able to access it at first. But if the router is already configured ... reformatting would be the same as just disconnecting your pc from the router for a short while ... its all stored on the router. once your pc is up and running again ... your router will recognize it. There are no MAC address changes or hardware identity changes by reloading XP. The only thing that would/could cause problems is if you swap out the NIC for a new one ... a new MAC address would appear of which your router hasn't "met".

The desktop is connected to router by ethernet or wireless?
 
I dont mean to be skeptical or disrespectful to you ... but is this some kind of test you're putting out there? I mean ... for a site "guru" I would think you would know about this stuff. No? :)
 
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