802.11b,Windows XP 2000 and 98

I have a computer running dual operating systems i.e. Windows 2000 pro. and Windows XP pro. I have just installed a Netgear 802.11b Wireless Access Point and wish to link it to an IBM ThinkPad 600, which is running Windows 98.

I started off running 2000 pro and installed the WAP and the Wireless PC Card. All worked well and the laptop accessed the Internet connection on the host computer.

I then tried it with XP pro and decided to set up a small network, which worked very well once I had installed the network setup disk on to the laptop.

Going back to Windows 2000 pro the link does not work and it seems that the network setup disk from XP has changed the Windows 98 settings making it no longer possible to use the wireless network with Windows 2000 pro.

Is there a way I can overcome this problem?

Many thanks

John Butler

 

Do the two PCs simply not see each other at all when you are booted to 2K? Or is the problem just that the 98 PC can't get to the internet via the 2K as host?

And you don't say if your XP is Home or Pro. They do a few things differently so to keep from having to put two sets of "fixes" on here, please say which OS.

Also, you said "it seems that the network setup disk from XP has changed the Windows 98 settings ". Does this mean you know what was changed? If so, please specify.

 

Hi Newt

Thanks for taking an interest in my post.

I am using XP Pro and 2000 Pro on the main computer. When I first set up the WIFI link running 2000 Pro (and Win 98 on the laptop) all worked well and the laptop was able to access the Internet connect facility.
I then set up a small network using the XP Pro (and the laptop) and it worked very well. Part of this process involved me using (on the laptop) the network setup disk created by XP. (XP Pro and 2000 Pro are run and separate hard drives).

When I came to use 2000 pro again the laptop could not see the main computer and I have searched around Win 98 and can’t find the changes made by the XP network setup disk. 2000 was not changed, but Win 98 was changed by this disk and this change has presumably caused the problem.

I hope this information is specific enough for you to give the issue some consideration.

John {GD0NFN (Ham radio callsign)}

 

Yup.

First off, the network setup floppy is well known for messing up non-NT (or even NT/2K) PCs. Unless you use an all XP system, I'd avoid it. Too easy to just do all the setup stuff by hand.

The easiest approach at this point is to have you post some specific information on here. Dead easy on the 2 NT operating systems. Involves a little typing with the 9X system.

With the dual-boot PC booted to either 2K or XP and the 98 PC booted after the NT OS is loaded:

1. On the NT box and assuming it has loaded XP, start~run~cmd and then
ipconfig /all > c:\xp-config.txt. You won't see any screen output since it will send the results to the text file. Open the text file in notepad or any other text editor (not a word processor), copy the contents and paste it in here with something to identify XP or 2K.

2. On the 98 box, start~run~winipcfg and when the window opens, ask for details. Then type everything you see (everything and exact) into a notepad window or similar and put it in here also.

3. Boot the dual-OS box to the other OS, reboot the 98 PC and do the same exact thing again except use a different name for the text file Maybe c:\2K-config.txt or something. If the 98 settings are the same, just say so. Only need to post any that are different than they were the first time.

With that information, hopefully we can just tell you exactly what to change. Otherwise it will point to any areas where additional information will be needed.

 

Hello again Newt

Thanks for your well considered reply, but I have now solved the problem!

My daughter told me last night that she could not use MSN Messenger and was getting a screen to say that a firewall was in the way, (the host computer was running 2000 Pro). At the same time the host PC was running very slowly and I was unable to ping another PC on the small network. I remembered that I was using Sygate firewall with the 2000 Pro. OS and after installing XP pro it seemed to disappear from sight (no longer showing on the toolbar). I therefore removed the Sygate Firewall and immediately the entire network was ping able, and the WIFI setup worked fine once more. The host computer’s speed is now back to normal, all that is missing is the Sygate firewall.

So Newt it seems that two firewalls on one machine (XP and Sygate) doesn’t get on, particularly when developing the network. I will give this situation some more thought having the good feeling that things are working once more.

Thanks once again for your kind consideration to my little problem.

John
GD0NFN
Isle of Man

 

Glad you got things working.

FWIW, the Sygate firewall is lots more functional than the applet that ships with XP. So you might want to disable the native XP firewall and reload the other one.