I want to network two computers, How?

netwhizkid

I recently fixed my old PC a Win98 Packard Bell Squarius PII350 Details Pentium II 350Mhz. Thanks to Capt’n Midnight for his invaluable advice on this issue. I want to network them together for to share my Satellite Broadband onto it for to do some essential upgrades. I read here earlier that a network crossover cable is needed. I tried to network them today with a RJ-45 cable that I took off my Eircom Telephone and hooked each port to one another. I presume what I was doing was wrong.

My plan is to upgrade the Anti-virus to AVG and install Spybot - Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware SE Personal on it. If I could these on it I would allow it retire easily carrying out its duties as a web browser and Word Processor. If I could get the network going I would move a lot of the unessential files of it on to my partioned HD on my Dell. The HD on it is only 6.4GB and I reckon I could shift about 3gigs to my new HD. Also the Battery is gone in it as every time I turn it on the clock says 00.00. Are these batteries easy to get? Would good PC shops keep them?

These are the specs.
Packard Bell Squarius PII350 Details
PROCESSOR: Intel Pentium II
SPEED: 350mhz
MEMORY: 64Mb RAM, 512K Cache
STORAGE: 6.4GB Hard Drive
MULTIMEDIA: 32speed CD-ROM Drive, 16 Bit sound card
MODEM: 56k Fax-data indent
DISPLAY: 15" CRT
OS: Windows 98

What would I need to upgrade in order to run Linux on it? Or is Linux worthwhile as an OS? I am guessing that anything beyond Windows 2000 or ME would not work either. I Linux seems the way to go how compatible is it with normal applications like MS Works or Office, AVG Free and maybe Picasa too. I was told that Linux is a big Download so I think if and when I get around to upgrading the OS, I will hog some ADSL Internet café’s resources for an hour or so. Anyway first things first as regards to getting the Computers linked together.

Thanks in advance.

DemonOfTheFall

Linux can't run any windows programs, unless you use an emulator. Basically, you're just not gonna be running any windows stuff on it. You wouldnt bother with a virus scanner, youd use openoffice for word processing and gimp or something for images. No windows programs, at all.

If I were you, I'd nlite down a copy of windows 2000 to the bare bones and run that on it. That's perfectly fast on any old pc. Especially one with 64 megs of ram, plenty for general use.

When you say the RJ-45 cable from your eircom phone what do you mean ? the connectors for phones are rj-11, networking is rj-45.

Khannie

If you're new to linux, you need to do a fair bit of reading before you dive in. It's totally different to windows. It has similar applications, but windows wont run linux apps and vice versa because they are fundamentally different.

I'd suggest you get yourself a tutorial from google, then get ubuntu which is a relatively small download (on DSL).

networking a windows machine and a linux machine is certainly do-able, but not as straightforward as networking two windows machines or two linux machines.

If indeed you do intend becoming a netwhizkid, linux experience is a must.

Good luck.

ShiverinEskimo

if your running a cable directly between two pc's it needs to be a crossover cable and not a standard straight through network cable.

Any PC store can sell you a cheap crossover cable.

If you need to use straight through cables you will need 2 cables and a hub/switch. Most broadband/DSL routers come with an in-built (4-port) switch which would be fine. Connect each pc to the switch using a standard RJ45 terminated Cat5 cable (network cable ) and then configure your ip settings.

If you need help with IP settings post back.

WizZard

LOL @ Khannie

@OP: Does your sat broadband terminate in a switch or directly to a card in your PC?

Windows 2000 slimmed down is perfect for that old PC if you do not want to try Linux, although I would recommend Linux to people who want to learn and are a bit technical.

netwhizkid

WizZard wrote:

LOL @ Khannie

@OP: Does your sat broadband terminate in a switch or directly to a card in your PC?

Windows 2000 slimmed down is perfect for that old PC if you do not want to try Linux, although I would recommend Linux to people who want to learn and are a bit technical.

The Satellite Broadband terminates in a PCI Card inside my new PC. It is totally incompatible with the old Packard Bell, I can however be shared so i could technically use it on the old one only to network the together.

aidan_dunne

netwhizkid wrote:

I tried to network them today with a RJ-45 cable that I took off my Eircom Telephone and hooked each port to one another. I presume what I was doing was wrong.

First mistake right there. I think you may be confusing a RJ11 telephone cable with a RJ45 network cable. Easy mistake to make, the connections on the ends both look similar but the RJ45 one is slightly larger. What I suspect you might have done was connect the two modems in both computers together (or the modem in the old machine to the network port on the new one) because, once again, the ports looks very similar. But, once again, the network port is slightly bigger if you examine it closely (also more pins in it).

Going on the spec you posted of the old machine here:

netwhizkid wrote:

These are the specs.
Packard Bell Squarius PII350 Details
PROCESSOR: Intel Pentium II
SPEED: 350mhz
MEMORY: 64Mb RAM, 512K Cache
STORAGE: 6.4GB Hard Drive
MULTIMEDIA: 32speed CD-ROM Drive, 16 Bit sound card
MODEM: 56k Fax-data indent
DISPLAY: 15" CRT
OS: Windows 98

it would appear there's no network card in it. So, first things first. You need to buy a network card (or two if your newer machine doesn't have a network connection built onto the motherboard. Most PC's made in the last couple of years have them as standard onboard now, though) and whack it into one of the spare PCI slots in the machine (assuming there's at least one spare, of course! ). Network cards are cheap, a basic 10/100 one can be picked up for €10 or €15. You could even go onto the For Sale/Wanted forum here and beg for one for cheaper or even for free and I bet some kind soul who happens to have loads of old ones lying around will give you one for nothing or next to nothing!

Then, you need to get yourself a length of CAT5 crossover (not patch!) cable. As other's here have already said, most computer shops will have them for sale ready-made or will make up a length of it for you there and then.

Then, it's a case of connecting the two PC's together using the crossover cable and getting down to the task of actually networking both PC's. I won't go into it here now but there are plenty of online tutorials telling you how to do it or you can always rely on the good folks here on Boards to help (go into the Networking forum for more details)!

netwhizkid wrote:

Also the Battery is gone in it as every time I turn it on the clock says 00.00. Are these batteries easy to get? Would good PC shops keep them?

Yeah, shouldn't be too much of a problem to pick one up. Most motherboards in PC's these days use a round, flat battery similar to a watch battery only much bigger. If you open your case you should spot it on the motherboard fairly easily. Any decent PC shop should be able to supply you with one no bother.

netwhizkid wrote:

What would I need to upgrade in order to run Linux on it? Or is Linux worthwhile as an OS? I am guessing that anything beyond Windows 2000 or ME would not work either. I Linux seems the way to go how compatible is it with normal applications like MS Works or Office, AVG Free and maybe Picasa too. I was told that Linux is a big Download so I think if and when I get around to upgrading the OS, I will hog some ADSL Internet café’s resources for an hour or so. Anyway first things first as regards to getting the Computers linked together.

You can get Linux to network with Windows machines but it's not the type of thing you want to try if you're a newbie to the whole area of networking! I would recommend you stick with a Windows to Windows network for the time being and then see about going down the Linux route further down the line perhaps. As for what version of Windows to run, well, given the spec of the old machine you could just about run Windows 2000 on it alright. More RAM would be a very good idea, though, if you could get it. I've installed Win2K on machines running 64MB before and, while it will run, it's not pretty! If you can upgrade to 128MB or even 256MB, it'll make your life a good bit easier alright.

rsynnott

Khannie wrote:

If you're new to linux, you need to do a fair bit of reading before you dive in. It's totally different to windows. It has similar applications, but windows wont run linux apps and vice versa because they are fundamentally different.

*pedant*

Not quite. Assuming a 386 in both cases, Windows won't run Linux apps and vice versa because they use different link libraries and executable styles. There are interpretative layers which work, after a fashion, for Windows on Linux, the obvious one being WINE. Assuming you have the source, applications which don't use system-specific APIs can generally be compiled for either platform.

Khannie

Haha. Now I think you're just trying to wind me up.

Fair enough you can make portable code, but you can't make portable binaries. That was what I was saying was the fundamental difference.