webley445
Flashlight Enthusiast
Got the ole lady a Dell Laptop for Xmas. Just the basic model for school, she didn't want fancy and is also not the most PC savy. So I figure network it to the home PC (EMachine) and they can share the printer, internet, files.
Now I am no idiot when it comes to computers, but I am no expert either and this is my first try at networking. I get a Cat5 cable and go thru the network wizard. The Emachine gives me a "error" message. But I can access the shared file thru both. The problem is no internet connection going to the laptop, the E is the host.
Of course, as usual when working on the PC, I got frustrated and very, um perturbed to where I had to walk away. But not until after I called Dell for help. Of course I told them off and hung up, because the help I was requesting was not in my "contract" and I would have to pay for it.
So right now I'm working on splitting the line to the cable modem and will run a separate line to each unit. Haven't tried printing from the laptop yet, but I kinda get the feeling that will not work either.
That won't be a problem, I suppose, as the notebook came with a free printer (hmm...looking remarkably similar to my Lexmark printer-also feeling apprehension after see the recent Dell cartridge thread). So I can have a dedicated printer for each unit.
Anyways, I'd appreciate any insights or advice anyone could toss out, but please, layman's terms. Sometimes folks start throwing out PC gab assuming I know it all and some of it goes over my head.
Oh two other things. On the laptop, the toolbar keeps displaying an icon that says "network connection not working" click it and it reads "network cable is unplugged". Well, the cable is there, in the proper hole, so whats the deal? (this is the kind of stuff that makes me yell out loud ).
And on the host PC, I ended up creating 2 networks, so how do I delete the one I'm not using?
Now I am no idiot when it comes to computers, but I am no expert either and this is my first try at networking. I get a Cat5 cable and go thru the network wizard. The Emachine gives me a "error" message. But I can access the shared file thru both. The problem is no internet connection going to the laptop, the E is the host.
Of course, as usual when working on the PC, I got frustrated and very, um perturbed to where I had to walk away. But not until after I called Dell for help. Of course I told them off and hung up, because the help I was requesting was not in my "contract" and I would have to pay for it.
So right now I'm working on splitting the line to the cable modem and will run a separate line to each unit. Haven't tried printing from the laptop yet, but I kinda get the feeling that will not work either.
That won't be a problem, I suppose, as the notebook came with a free printer (hmm...looking remarkably similar to my Lexmark printer-also feeling apprehension after see the recent Dell cartridge thread). So I can have a dedicated printer for each unit.
Anyways, I'd appreciate any insights or advice anyone could toss out, but please, layman's terms. Sometimes folks start throwing out PC gab assuming I know it all and some of it goes over my head.
Oh two other things. On the laptop, the toolbar keeps displaying an icon that says "network connection not working" click it and it reads "network cable is unplugged". Well, the cable is there, in the proper hole, so whats the deal? (this is the kind of stuff that makes me yell out loud ).
And on the host PC, I ended up creating 2 networks, so how do I delete the one I'm not using?