MM - thank you. There was just the one device detected and that is now a trusted source with Access Control switched on.

hilary, does typing

http://xxx.xxx.0.7/

into a browser get you anything?

Otherwise try opening a DOS box and typing

ping xxx.xxx.0.7

and also ping xxx.xxx.0.4

You're right in that there is nothing to set on the switch. Some switches are actually routers and need IP addresses set etc., this one is a simple switch and should not be taking up an IP address.

Hilary hardware address = MAC address, not that this helps with what your doing...

Hil,

Maybe I should come over to your gaff and sort it out -- I could bring your ski boots ;-)

MM,

I thought you'd never offer.

:o)

K,

Typing http://xxx.xxx.0.7/ in a browser did the trick in so far as it gets us into the printer web page which is obviously a start.

The problem remains though that we still can't use "Add Printer" through Windows (which is XP Pro incidentally). We click the button for "a network printer" and it then gives us 3 options. "Browsing for a printer" doesn't detect it and the other 2 options both require a name which we don't seem to have.

Hilary, I looked up one of the Konica printers, although perhaps not your model, and it seems that it could do DHCP, which means that it will ask your router for an address. It might be that both are happening at the moment, i.e. the router is allocating an address and the printer is also receiving the address you set, so that it is getting confused. Try disabling the IP setting on the printer, e.g. set to 0.0.0.0, and also look around the other settings to see if DHCP is enabled on the printer. It's better anyway if the router allocates all the addresses.

How did you get the printer to work by connecting the PCs directly to the switch if you didn't have a printer name? Was it found automatically? If so you will have the name!

Hilary your printer should come with a CD with an install package on it. This ought to search for the network printer and then give you options to change the ip address and dhcp etc.

Edit - Just run the CD on your server or on one of your XP machines.

My laptop has a single 60Gb hard disc but this came partitioned in two, one of 29 Gb and one (D:\) around 20 Gb. Everything is saved on the C partition, but am I safe to store other stuff on D? I keep backups of my three work sites on the laptop and would like to keep it all there rather than clog up C which is getting quite full.

K,

Re your second para, I'm not sure what you mean by "How did you get the printer to work by connecting the PCs directly to the switch" as I've not been able to get the printer to work yet.

I simply connected the printer to the gateway with an ethernet patch cable and turned it on - nothing else. The only thing so far which is remotely positive is that I've been able to access the printer web page. When I try to install the driver, it can't or won't detect the printer and therefore doesn't complete the driver installation.

More worringly, I sometimes lose access to the printer web page without even doing anything! This is leading me to wonder if there isn't a hardware fault. I'm therefore going to try installing a different network printer to see if it's the machine or me being a total numpty and missing the blindingly obvious.

brianboru,

Thanks, but the manuals are pretty vague on network installation and instruct you to use the standard Windows drivers within XP. The Minolta drivers are for earlier OS's.

Spacie,

Thanks for your comment too. I did wonder if the HW address might be the same as the MAC address.

I'm running on XP Pro with Norton Firewall/AV etc as part of a BT Yahoo package. Should I enable the built-in XP Firewall or would that conflict with the Norton Firewall that is already running? Just curious.

TOK,

My, albeit limited, understanding of firewalls is that you should not enable the XP one if you have a third party one operating.

I use Trend Micro PC-Cillin and that fights the XP one - so I just use the Trend Micro one.

TP

TOK, I'm sure that with Norton you have to have only one firewall running, usually Norton's, but it does give you the choice. Go with Norton.

Thanks guys. I'll leave well alone.

My brother in law turned on his pc the other day and there was a sudden loud bang, a smell of plastic and everything went dead.
I suggested that the PSU had probably blown. He has since purchased a new one and fitted it. He switched on the system and it started to boot (he got the windows screen with the blue loading bar going along the bottom) but as the desktop came up the whole system shutdown/switched off. This occurs every time. We have tried entering the BIOS and attempted several times to start in safe mode but whatever we try the system shuts down within a very short time of starting (we never managed to get into safe mode).
Have you any ideas as to what the problem is, or how we can get windows to load long enough so we can try to use a system restore ??????
Thanks for any help you offer.

Hil, ah OK I'd understood that when you had connected the PCs to the gateway you had connected the printer too and got it working.

H/W and MAC address are the same but will be irrelevant here.

I have to say losing access temporarily etc. does sound like a conflict between the printer requesting an IP address from the router via DHCP and using the one you chose yourself. Have you tried removing your choice and turning everything off and on again including the router and gateway?

SC, quite safe to use the D partition, that's what it's for after all. The only thing I'd say though is that a laptop disk is a pretty bad place to keep a backup. Laptop disk drives don't have a long life and all you have to do is drop your laptop to lose all your backups.

Geoffg, could be anything really, motherboard, CPU, memory, disk drive, or any of the cards. You could exclude the memory by removing memory sticks one at a time, the expansion cards by removing all non-essential cards, the others by swapping parts with a working system. The other thing you could do is install the disk drive on a working system and check and fix any errors.

Actually thinking about it, check in the BIOS that the voltages being provided by the new power supply are within limits (the facility is normally there).

Kayak, thanks. The laptop is a backup of the backups, sort of double insurance, my Partner does the same so we have, at any one time, three backups of the original data.The first backups are portable hard drives, and one failed within weeks of getting it so I'm now paranoid!

Anybody on here know of this?

Subject: FW: Please Read and Send Out ASAP
> > >
> > > Thought I'd pass this on just in case it has some validity.
> > >
> > > 1. Emails with pictures of Osama Bin-Laden hanged are being sent and
> > > the moment that you open these emails your computer will crash and
you
> > > will not be able to fix it!
> > >
> > > This e-mail is being distributed through countries around the globe,
> > > but mainly in the US and Israel.
> > >
> > > Don't be inconsiderate; send this warning to whomever you know.
> > >
> > > If you get an email along the lines of "Osama Bin Laden Captured" or
> > > "Osama Hanged" don't open the attachment.
> > >
> > >
> > > 2. Please read the attached warning issued today.
> > > PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS: ; You
> > > should be alert during the next days:
> > > Do not open any message with an attached filed called "Invitation"
> > > regardless of who sent it
> > > It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which "burns" the whole hard
> > > disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from someone who
> > > has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you
> > > should send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive
> > > this message 25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
> > >
> > > If you receive a mail called "invitation", though sent by a friend, do
> not
> > > open it and shut down your computer immediately.
> > >
> > > This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been classified by
> > > Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
> > > This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair
> > > yet for this kind of virus.
> > >
> > > This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, & gt;
where
> the
> > > vital
> > > information is kept.
> > > SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, COPY THIS E-MAIL AND SEND IT TO
> > > YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU WILL BENEFIT
ALL
> OF
> > > US.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >

It looks like an 'Irish Virus'.

You had better send it to everyone in your address book and we had better do the same.

But there again, don't let's bother, eh? That might stop just stop this particular Irish virus.