On 14 Mar 2002, at 18:35, Debbie wrote:

> I am trying to network a new P4 system I just built with an HP
> Pavilion 6640c that is a couple of years old.  I am getting DSL in
> a few days, and I would like to share the internet connection.
> Both are running Win 98SE.  I am using three PCI ethernet cards,
> two on the host computer and one on the secondary computer, with a
> crossover cable connecting the two computers.
>
> I've got the PCI cards and drivers installed,crossover cable
> connected,  and I have enabled ICS on the host computer.  I would
> like to begin sharing files and printer before I get the DSL, and
> then share the DSL connection when it is installed.  When I go to
> Network Neighborhood, I get an "unable to browse the network"
> error.  Am I missing a step?   How do I enable the network?
>
> Thanks,
> Debbie Alspaugh

  In general, I think I would try to get it working first without
ICS, especially since your DSL hasn't arrived yet.  As far as I know,
the only issue with doing this is that ICS requires you to use a
specific private address range on the LAN side -- 192.168.0.x, if I
recall correctly.

  When a Windows PC joins a network, it broadcasts an announcement of
who it is.  A machine designated as the "Master Browser" is
responsible for collecting these broadcasts, and whenever a machine
needs to show its "Network Neighborhood", it asks the Master Browser
for the current list.
  If a machine can't find the Master Browser, it sends out a
broadcast call for an election to determine which of the machines on
the network is best qualified to play that role.
  The standard preference is that machines running NT/2000/XP should
be the master browser, and not 9x/ME.  It's quite possible that both
your machines are configured to "never be the Master Browser", and
that could be the issue.

  On the other hand, from the info in your message so far, we don't
even know if you've got the right protocol(s) installed or have them
configured correctly.  Cna you give us a run-down on what the
networking configuration on each of these boxes looks like?

David Gillett

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