Yes. I have a firewall.

Haystack,

My nephew tried to do exactly the same thing last week, except with a crossover ethernet cable rather than wireless.

He had awful problems accessing the shared folders on either machine and my husband spent a lot of time trying to help him with it.

To resolve it, they had to change the TCP/IP settings which had initially been set by DHCP along the lines of Kayak's comments. It now works fine.

MM and other gadget users:-

How to organise properly but with folded paper

(A very well thought out and excellent little idea)

My network has gone back a step. I have done something to it and now the client PC does not see the shared connection.

Normally I find that the IPCONFIG thing helps a lot...

Loooking for a new 17" tft monitor anyone seen any good deals or can recommend a good model/make to look for around the 150 mark as I might want two, to add to the two I already have ;-)

Just watched the Gadetshow on ch5, been thinking about wireless connection but the show has put me right off, as it seems anyone can hack into your computer sitting outside using a laptop, How can I stop them doing this?

Kayak - you have Email

Richgit: Not true, it's not as exposed as that. The truth is that many people install wireless networking but don't bother to secure their networks. Hence the scare stories.

Normally, you would turn on encrytion (so that makes it difficult for people to sniff your packets, a disgusting habit anyway) and you would tell your wireless hub only to allow the unique MAC addresses (hardware IDs) of your computers to access your network.

To be completely honest, there are ways to break all of this security, but, given that the average Brit can't put a thirteen amp plug on the end of a bit of wire correctly, it's not a significant risk.

One of the reasons for the wireless network is so that one of my kids can use his Nintendo DS to play others round the world. The wireless bit is built in and you an play for free at hundreds of access points. I have been getting him to keep trying to get WiFi access through my network as I try and get it to work (no success yet). He told me on Saturday that it was working and he was playing several other people. It turned out that he had hacked into an unprotected network local to us (a neighbour I guess). He is 9 years old. The DS scans for any network and shows them open or locked. He had been playing round with all sorts of settings for given SSID's to do with automatic IP addresses etc and he made it work. I could ditch my broadband connection and just use the free one he found (probably a bit naughty though). It turned out that he had found 10 networks and only two were locked. If these people have allowed file sharing as well then they are taking quite a risk.

We drove car slowly on the way back from the shops and scanned for networks. We found probably several hundred in about 10 minutes, with almost all of them unlocked.

MM, thanks that made a lot more sence, so long as no one can still my millions in my accounts or I'll come knocking on your door ;-)

Richgit: You're welcome.

Haystack: You prove my point -- that's worse than I imagined. I must try the same thing in my neighborhood. I have to admit that I never needed broadband in my apartment in Mountain View, California, thanks to the generosity of my neighbours ;-)

Richgit,
some links for screens,if your going for multi screen,i would buy in pairs,you dont want one on its own 2 years down the line,
why not go for 19 inch (good value).

http://www.aria.co.uk/DealForToday.asp

http://www.novatech.co.uk/

DABS

I have these monitors
i just got them out of the box and plugged them in,they dont have speakers,i like them.


i bet this one is sold out
acer 19in

http://www.savastore.com/

hope you find one,i would go for 19in and get two

steve

scussy, thanks for the links ;-)

I have just acquired a new computer with a new copy of XP Pro and the works. I am on line (broadband 2m) through a Netgear router. The irritation I have at the moment is only being able to connect to some websites and not others, through both Internet Explorer and Firefox. The trouble is the same. So, for example, the home pages of Lloydstsb.com and Microsoft.com are not loading, yet other sites like Moneyam.com and Betfair.com load up no problem whatsoever!

It isn't the specific sites as I've asked a friend to try out the ones I cannot get, and he can load up through IE with no difficulty. It is mightily frustrating as I cannot do any banking!

As I said, it is not IE but also Firefox which suggests a non-browser issue....maybe!

Any ideas would be appreciated. Remeber we are talking a brand new, official copy of Windows XP Pro.

Bones

Java?

Try getting rid of all your Java and then download the Java supplied by MoneyAM's link (eg, on the Monitor page)

Here's what it says on LloydsTSB about what is needed:-

Enabling JavaScript in Internet Explorer

To enable JavaScript in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4x, follow these steps:

Start Internet Explorer and select 'View', ' Internet Options' from the menu.
Click on the 'Security' tab, then select the 'Internet zone' from the zone dropdown list.
Click on the 'Custom' radio button then click on the 'Settings' button.
Scroll down to the 'Scripting' section and ensure that 'Active scripting' is enabled. If the 'Enable' radio button is not already selected, click on it to select it.
Click 'OK 'to close the 'Security Settings' dialogue. If you see a warning dialogue 'Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone?' click on the 'Yes' button.
Click 'OK' to close the 'Internet Options' dialogue.
Close and restart your Internet Explorer session for any changes to take effect.

To enable JavaScript in Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 and above, follow these steps:

Start Internet Explorer and select 'Tools', ' Internet Options' from the menu.
Click on the 'Security' tab, then click the globe icon to select the Internet zone.
Click on the 'Custom level' button to inspect the detailed option settings.
Scroll down to the 'Scripting' section and ensure that 'Active scripting' is enabled. If the 'Enable' radio button is not already selected, click on it to select it.
Click 'OK' to close the 'Security Settings' dialogue. If you see a warning dialogue 'Are you sure you want to change the security settings for this zone?' click on the 'Yes' button.
Click 'OK' to close the 'Internet Options' dialogue.
Close and restart your Internet Explorer session for any changes to take effect.

Thanks DocProc. I had in fact already done just that, downloaded Java from MoneyAM, as I needed that to see the stockwatch. Scripting is already enabled in Internet Explorer.

What I am wondering is what is so peculiar about sites like www.lloydstsb.com, www.microsoft.com and www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk that causes a block whereas www.betfair.com and www.moneyam.com (and many others) are not prevented? And only on my system!

It is certainly a mystery. Could it be a network router issue?

Bones, check the blocked sites page on your router just in case you're blocking them, otherwise it's likely to be a DNS issue. Check on the basic settings page that DNS is set to Get Automatically From ISP (unless your ISP specifies them).

If all that fails it could be a DNS problem with the ISP. It could resolve itself in a couple of days or you could try a different dial-up ISP (assuming you have a modem) to confirm that.

Thank you Kayak. I've checked and seem clear on the first suggestions, which leaves the DNS addresses at my ISP which is AOL, but I am only using the router, not a modem, on the advice of my computer builder.

I will have to see what happens in the next day or two.

I use AOL and Lloydstsb.com and Microsoft.com are fine for me.

If it's AOL, Bones, also work your way through this lot...

http://www.aol.co.uk/products/broadband/features/networking_faqs.adp