I am trying to network a second PC and it is not working..any ideas?

[DoNotAsfinishedXmasshopping]

OK.

I have an old(ish) XP machine which was connected via a modem to AOL 9m ago. It has been in the loft and I have just got it back out.

I have my main machine running Vista and am currently running on O2 broadband with an O2 router (a Thomson I believe).

I bought one of these and installed it on my XP machine.

I then tried to install my O2 broadband assistant but when it checks if my PC is compatibe it says that there is no network card.

So i tried to configure it on teh USB netowrk thingy software and managed to pick up my router. My Vista machine can also see my XP machine. BUT I cannot connect to the internet on the XP machine and when I click on my XP machine in the network and sharing centre on Vista it says the path or filename is invalid.

Have I missed something obvious?

Oh and is there any disadvantage in doing the uninstall from the options on the software disk as opposed to add/remove programs? That is how I havebeen doing it to date (the 60 million times that I have done it over the weekend).

I'm sure either way is fine as both probably run the same uninstall process. There is a good chance that uninstalling this way will remove all the wireless networking devices but just follow my instructions skipping over the part about deleting them if there are none remaining.

Arggghhhh this thing is driving me mad!

Had a good stable connection for a couple of days so I did nothing about it.

Then Thurs it just died. Couldn't repair the connection or anything. When I click erpair it can't renew IP address. Googling gives lots of variants on how to solve it and I don't 100% understand them. Something about setting a fixed IP. Surely this changes every time I reconnect to the internet unles I pay my ISP for a fixed IP?

Will a new netowrk adapter really solve the problem? I have moved the PC now - so the signal is not as strong (but still typically good-very good) and I did have a stable connection with it in its new location for a couple of days.

Often it will detect it as a strong connection - but won't actually connect to it - so I don't think it is about the signal strength...

Oh and I have just tried to do teh reinstall of the drivers thing as you described and that hasn't solved my problem.

OK I think I am making progress.

I have now changed the TCP/IP settings to a fixed IP address using instructions I found on google....so they have similar but not identical IP addresses.

I now have a connection....at least as far as hte XP software is concerned. BUT I can't connect to the internet - and my Vista machine can't see the XP machine. It is trying to launch the AOL dialler (historical software which I dare not uninstall as I am under the impression that it strips XP with it).

As part of my fiddling I changed the workgroup name to teh XP default name (in case XP was restoring the defaults all the time) - so I wonder whether that has done anything strange. But as far as I am concerned the workgroup names are the same on both machines.

It certainly sounds like you are very competent at searching and trying out various solutions and if I were at the point you are, having now tried a number of different ways to get this working, I'd honestly be returning it for a refund and obtaining a different manufacturers wireless adaptor.

When you say they have similar but not identical IP addresses, what exactly is different. Every machine on a network must have a unique IP address but they must also share the first 3 numbers between the decimal points (any network expert would be screaming at me now as this isn't strictly true but will suffice for this discussion). As an example, most routers will be something like 192.168.0.1 so any other computers must start 192.168.0.nnn where nnn can be any unique number between 0 and 254 so following instructions from the internet might have broken the network connection although it certainly would not break the wireless connection (unless the IP address wasn't unique).

The one thing I'm not clear on is if you want the Vista and XP machines to see each other to share files/printers or if you're simply using this as a test. I believe that by default XP machines use something called "simple file sharing" and this can cause confusion as even a fully working networked XP machine might not be "seen". The best way to be sure is to actually share a folder on the XP machine which should make it appear on a fully working network. Let me know if you want help with that.

Wireless adaptors are supposed to follow standards so that they can operate with any wireless access point, regardless of manufacturer, but they do tend to bend the rules so that hardware from the same manufacturer work a little faster or possibly work with a weaker signal.

I don't think signal strength is the problem, so I would really be wanting to try a different brand at this point. The fact that this works for 2-3 days without problems and then suddenly breaks points to this being the best action.

Sorry I can't help any more than this, but do post again if you do decide to replace it and things still don't work (or even if they do please let me know).

Mr DC

TY very much with your help....I wouldn't have got this far (whereever that is) without it. ut I still have a couple of questions to help me move forward.

I am doing as you say with the IP - changing the last number only.

I don't need to file share - what I am trying to say is that teh network map (visualised on my Vista) does not show my XP as being present.

I think I will test the brains over at think broadband before giving up....but I do feel as if I am going around in circles. I may see if I can get a Thompson adapter (my router is essentially a Thompson with an O2 badge on it).

Also - there seems to be some suggestion that PCI cards are a little more robust/reliable. Is this the case? Should I think about getting a G+ to improve my signal strength (as it does very occasionally dip to low and I figure this is what is causing me to drop my connection and that my problems are with recovering my connection once it has been dropped) - will they work with all G routers?

I have been ensured by collegues that I am capable of fitting a PCI card (and you may have sussed I am a resourceful and capable woman so long as someone tells me what to do ). The problem I have is how do I know if I have a spare PCI slot. Is it just a case of opening up hte box and having a look?

Ta

Your welcome to all the help I've given/giving. I wouldn't get too hung up on the Vista network map, this isn't something that is designed to work with XP machines although there is additional software you can install to ensure that it does (which I think you might have mentioned installing). I did think that was what you meant when you mentioned the Vista and XP machines "seeing" each other but I wanted to be sure.

I'm not certain but I don't think Thompson make wireless adaptors, but I might be wrong about that and certainly there is nothing to say that Thompson hardware might actually be the brains behind a Netgear, Linksys, or Belkin device. I wouldn't worry about the G+ as this is the sort of thing I was meaning when I talked about manufacturers bending the rules to make their devices work slightly faster/better but this only works when you put a wireless router and a wireless adaptor from the same manufacturer together (pair them with different manufacturers and they will act like a simple G device).

I can't comment on wireless PCI cards because I've only ever used USB ones. Sadly in the computer world things can get very complex and sometimes even a PCI device can actually work like a USB device (without digressing too much the TV tuner inside our Media Center computer is actually a USB device but connects internally using a PCI slot). Unfortunately the only certain way to find out if you have a spare PCI slot is to open up the box.

There is also a site called ABX Zone that I've often used when a newly built computer didn't quite work as I was expecting and although it is a site for the more technical (I'm not knocking your abilities here but I am trying to avoid the term "geek" ) you will find them welcoming and very helpful. In addition to trying think broadband there is another site called broadband buyer and I've found them to be very helpful in the past.

Just to add to my experiences I did own a Belkin wireless router and I ended up returning this, after trying two of them, for something. Please let me know how you get on and what you decide to do.

Will do....I have a whole pile of fish to fry ATM including trying to work out why my web host appears to have gone AWOL with my domain name....which is business critical ATM...so that will be taking most of my energies....but I will deffo report back.