In a message dated 2/9/2004 8:11:28 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
To the List:

Without further inquiry, I have some suspicions about what is occurring.

So I am suspecting that the three xp machines in the network are all
formatted NTSF and so cannot be seen by the lone win 98se box.

As for the delay, what I suspect is occurring is that the win98 box is
logging into the network for 3 minutes, gives up, and then establishes the
connection to the internet.  If you watch its light on the router, you will
probably see it blink several times, which means that the network connection
in the win 98se machine is trying to "log in" to the network.

The other 3 xp machines should be able to "see" the win98 machine, just not
the reverse.

As for proof, I have a home network with a router which includes a desktop
with dual boot win 98se / win 2000 setup.  The other part of the network is
a laptop with win 2000.  The hard drive in the laptop is formatted NTSF.
When I boot in win 98se, the desktop can not see the laptop, because DOS 7
(which is what win 98se is) cannot see NTFS.

The dual boot on my desktop is drive c for win 98se and drive f for win 2000
(formatted in NTSF).  When I boot it in win 98se, the NTSF drive f
disappears and cannot be seen by win 98.

I have not tried any further ways of "seeing" the NTSF drive in the win 98se
machine, but I don't think it is possible.

Robert B. Hemming
Hi,
  Over a network, it makes no difference what filesystem a disk is formatted
with. If your Win98 systerm can't "see" the disk on your Win2000 system, the
reason isn't what filesystem  the Win2000 system uses.
  To be networked, both systems need a common network protocol, TCP/IP is
commonly used (as that is also what the internet uses), although netbeui will
work too. Win2000 has security, when trying to access the Win2000 system with the
Win98, you will need to log in using a username/password that is valid on the
Win2000 system. You also need to apply sharing to any disks and printers that
you want to be used over the network.
  The system the disk is attached to reads/writes the data to and from the
disk, converts it to the network protocol being used, and sends it over the
network in data packets. The point being that only the system the disk is attached
to needs to be able to use the filesystem the disk is formatted in, all the
other systems on the network see that data as data packets of whatever network
protocol the network is using.
  Taking this a step further, when using the internet, the server at the
website you're visiting may be a PC, or it may be a Mac, or a mainframe system, or
who knows what, running UNIX, Linux, or one of many other OS's, with a wide
variety of filesystem flavors. Your system has no trouble networking with them,
and reading/writing to their disks.

HTH,
Peter Hogan
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