hi its me again!

ive not got a LAN of two computers in my house, one wired, one wireless.

ive just built a new computer and am just wondering if i could set this up as a 'server' so the computer on my network can logon to it at startup like you get in public libraries and schools. i have no idea how i would do this, ive just set up a clean installation of windows xp.

can anyone help me out here?

thanks a lot

You can use peer to peer IP so they both find and log into each other. I have 6 systems at home that all do this with quite a variety of OS's (95,98,2K,XPpro).

Just setup the same uname and password in each. This is essential for 9x systems since they can't initiate a logon.

Enable file sharing and share the drives/folders/etc that you want.

hi satchcik

i can do file sharing at the moment, i was just wondering is there a way i can log in at startup like colleges have so my work wud be saved on the server, not locally?

thanks

If you want an actual server, you need a server OS like NT server, 2000 server, 2003 server, or even some linux can be setup for this.

But you can use filesharing to do this. If they both have the same uname/password, they will connect automatically. You can even map a drive to the other computer and treat it as a remote drive.

Perhaps I'm not sure what you're asking.

sorry, im a bit confused.

i'll try to explain more. you're on the right track by understanding what i mean by server, but id like to do it very cheaply preferably free!

id like to be able to leave my 'server' on all the time, then when i go on one of my other computer, it will turn on saying enter uname and password then it will log me in, and my saved work folder will be something like a drive 'U://' or something along those lines.

Sorry if this isnt really helping. Please ask questions if it helps

Thanks a lot

You're a star

OK, I get it, but you can do this with file sharing if both systems are NT based (they have to be able to initiate a logon).

The only difference would be that with file sharing you would not get the logon on startup unless you defined a mapped drive on your client system to the system you designate as the server (your U: ). There is no cheaper way then that. What you want would require a server software, using file sharing is the poor man's network (why i use it )

Linux is a cheap alternative, but its quite complicated to get it to work in a windows environment. Best to go with the file sharing method.

Since the original poster has not returned in over 2 months I am marking this topic done so that it can be closed my a moderator. If you have a similar problem please start a new topic.

_________________
MS MVP Security 2006-2008

I've locked this thread since the issue is appears to be resolved. Please pm a mod if you would like it reopened for any reason.

thanks,

ach