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DJM1972

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I just bought a new pc and I wanted to connect my old pc to my new pc.
I wanted to connect them without using any internet connection.
Just to connect them together and nothing else.
Me and my friend went to Staples and the guy their told me I needed a Lan card.
So I bought one, thinking this shouldn't be to complicated.
Well it looks like I was wrong.
My main question here is how do I connect just the 2 pc's?
Any help?
Thanks
Oh yeah I do have a Lan card in each pc and they are connected with one of those wires that look like a phone line just a little bigger.
 
its easy as pie.

if your using *nix then its one ifconfig command per computer. (perhaps a modprobe too if its a curious card).
 
Unfortunitly its not that simple. I wish it was. I'm using Windows 98 2nd edition on one. The other I'm using xp. You'd think I'd remeber to put that in my post. Man pc's are such a pain in the ass.
 
Well I would get a router or a switch. Its a little box that you connect the wires too and it routes your traffic correctly so you can communicate. You can get one for really cheap.

If you are in the us here you go.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-201-201&depa=5
everyone seems to like that one and its only $19 with shipping.

I will be getting another switch soon and that will be the one I am getting.

you will also need a cable you can find one on the same site for around 5 bucks with shipping.
 
Do I have to get a router I just wanted to use what I already have.

I check out the router at the website it looks like a good one. But do I really need one?
 
well its the best solution. Its only $19. Network traffic will run faster and its a whole lot easier than what you are trying.
 
if you only have two PC's a router is definitly not necessary.
the best method for you right now is a cross over cable.
and costing probably somewhere around the one quid mark it's a lot cheaper than buying a router, which will only ever have to route between two machines. (the whole point of a router is it stores packet information to decide to the best route to a place. a little pointless when only connecting two machines). At a push you could go for a switch, (assumgin you'd add more computers to the network later), or a hub, but even then you need two cables and a hub, with a crossover cable you only need one cable.

Right you hae the cards installed in the machines?
Are the drivers all installed and do the card show up on the device manager and are they listed as working?
(win98> right click on the my computer, select properties, select the device manager tab
winXP> right click my computer select manage, selecte the device manager tree node).
if they are both listed as installed and working fine, then make sure the computer can contact it's self.
open up the command prompt.
(win98> start > run > command
winXP> start > run > cmd)
now type PING 127.0.0.1
you should see the message
REPLY FROM 127.0.0.1 Bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
(four times)
if you dont see this there is a problem with the network card installation.
next take your crossover cable and plug it into both machines.
(assuming the cards have connected/activity lights)
you should now see some flashing lights at the back of each machine.

If all of these tests are sucessfull, then the card is installed correctly, and the reason they cannot 'see' each other is a configuration problem...

Go back to the dos box and type
(win98 > WINIPCFG
winXP > IPCONFIG)
you shoudl now see the addresses the computers are assuming.
you should look at the adapter properties in the network connections folder, and set these to be simillar.
(set IPaddresses as 192.168.0.x (where x is a number 1 -> 255)(they have to be different on each machine)
set the subnet to 255.255.255.0
(you may have to restart)
go back to the command prompt as before and now try to ping the other computer (using the address number you gave it).
all being well (and assuming I didn't miss anything) they should be able to see each other.
 
When I type ipconfig in xp it says media disconnected.
When I go to Network connections in the control panel it just says:

To create a Network Brigde, you must select at least two network connections that are not being used by Internet Connection Sharing or the Internet Conection Firewall.

What should I do about this?

Plus I'm not seeing any light at the back of my machines. Everything else seems ok.
 
Oh actually this might be a simpler problem than I thought.

Go to your network connection and right click it and click on properties.

It will bring a screen up that shows all the network connection that are available for yours system ex: LAN, Internet, IEEE.

Go to your Lan connection and right click it choosing properties. It will load a property window. In the middle of the window there is a bunch of things, the very bottom item should say TCP/IP or somthing. click on that then click the properties button It will load up thing that has a bunch of periods or dots. highlight the box and fill in the numbers with 192.168.0.1 then the next box should be subnet mask. just click into that and some numbers should automaticly pop up containing 255. and 0's.

Go to your other computer and do the same but this time enter in 192.168.0.2

One way you can check if its connected is to go to run and type in CMD this will load a prompt in the window type in
ping 192.168.0.2 or if you know your computer name you can type ex: ping COMPUTERNAME.

If it cant reach the host then you wont be able to access it.

If this doesnt work you will either have to get a switch or that crossover cable thingy.
 
First I wanted to say thanks for all the help.
You guys were right I needed a crossover cable. I e-mailed Linksys they told me the same thing. They gave me a link to click on and it showed me how to share files and printers.

The only thing I can't figure out now is how to connect to the internet.

My new pc is the pc with xp in it. It is also the pc that connects to the internet with aol with a dial up modem.
I tried to connect my old pc to my new pc with the connection wizard.
using connect to internet via LAN.
When I finish and click on Internet Explorer it says Pg could not be displayed or couldn't detect the proxy settings or something.
I e-mailed Linksys again so I'm waiting to see what they say. But your help proves just as good.
Thanks
 
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