Windows XP for Starters: The Missing Manual

Chapter 13. The Home Network

• The Network Setup Wizard

• Simple File Sharing

• The Shared Documents Folder

• Sharing Your Own Folders

• Accessing Other Computers

• Working with Network Files

When you connect computers so that they can access one another’s files and equipment, you create a network. As millions of PC fans buy second and third computers for their homes and offices, small networks are becoming increasingly common.

When it comes to simplicity, setting up a network has a long way to go before it approaches, say, setting up a desk lamp. It involves buying equipment, installing adapters, and configuring software. Fortunately, Windows XP’s Network Setup Wizard makes the software part as painless as possible.

And the payoff is considerable: once you’ve created a network, you can copy files from one machine to another just as you’d drag files between folders on your own PC. Everyone on the network can consult the same database, phone book, or calendar. When the workday’s done, you can play games over the network. Most importantly, you can share a single laser printer, cable modem or DSL, fax modem, or phone line among all the PCs in the house.

The Network Setup Wizard

Once you’ve set up the networking equipment, you have to inform Windows XP about what you’ve been up to. You also have to configure your computers to share their files, folders, printers, modems, Internet connections, and so on. Fortunately, the Network Setup Wizard handles this duty for you. (You must have an Administrator ...