OT: Annoying Vista Laptop and network

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I now have my own Annoying Vista Laptop, bought for the trip I will be taking tomorrow.

It isn't seeing the house network. This is somewhat important, as there are files I'd like to take with me.

Any help?

(Also, wireless mice are cool)

[Jack Simth]

Try manually assigning the IP address. I had a similar problem with my Vista desktop (before I converted it to a Linux desktop); for whatever reason, it kept automatically taking an IP address that wasn't actually on my house network - which, for obvious reasons, didn't work through the NAT.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

...And it's decided to work.

Just in case, how do I do that? Thanks.

[Jack Simth]

It's been a while, and I'm doing this from memory; I may be missing a few steps...
Right-click Network Neighborhood
select Properties on the context-sensitive menu
Select TCP/IP on the list
Click Properties
Move from "Obtain an IP address Automatically" to "Use a specific IP address" (or whatever it's called)
Put in the numbers appropriate to your network (the IP address itself needs to be unique, but you can clone the rest off of another machine on the network - open up command.com (start/run, enter command.com) and type in ipconfig - that should get you most of it)).
Hit Ok/close out of everything, reboot.

Edit: Oh yeah - and while the IP address has to be unique, you don't want to change more than the last number on most networks. It still has to be in a particular range, which is specified by the net mask.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Um, yeah - Vista has a different setup.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Also, someone needs to tell one of the families here they have an unsecured wireless network.

Unfortunately, I have no idea who they are.

[Fyron]

The most important thing to check in Vista is whether or not the network is considered private or public. When a new wireless network is joined for the first time, the system asks you whether it is a home, office, or public network. The answer sets network access privileges for a slew of services. You can check these settings in the Network and Sharing Center (Control Panel > View network status and tasks). Network Discovery and File Sharing are necessary services to be able to share files. You should make sure these things are enabled before fiddling with IP addresses.

Another thing to check is that all machines are in the same Workgroup. Different Workgroups will also prevent network discovery from being successful. You can check and change Workgroups in the System Properties dialog (accessible in Vista via Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System).

===0===

Regarding setting a static IP in Vista:

Typing the full command.com in run dialog is unnecessary, as "cmd" maps to the command line prompt.

Vista method:
Open Explorer.
Right click on Network in the left-hand tree view, select Properties. (Alternatively, you can get here via the Control Panel, by clicking on "View network status and tasks" below "Network and Internet.")
Click on "Manage network connections" on the left.
Right click on "Local Area Connection," select Properties.
Now follow Jack's procedure above, starting at TCP/IP properties. Make sure to select IPv4.
Select TCP/IPv4 on the list
Click Properties
Move from "Obtain an IP address automatically" to "Use the following IP address."
Put in the numbers appropriate to your network (the IP address itself needs to be unique, but you can clone the rest off of another machine on the network - open up the command prompt (start, type cmd, hit enter) and type in ipconfig - that should get you most of it)).
Hit Ok/close out of everything.

Note that Vista should automatically refresh the IP after confirming the changes, so the ipconfig step is generally unnecessary. If you end up needing to refresh it, you must run cmd in elevated privilege mode. Hit win-key to pop up the start menu, then type cmd. "cmd.exe" will appear in the results. Right click on it and select "Run as administrator."

I should also point out that rebooting is generally unnecessary to change IP address in Vista, XP, and even Win2k. Most of the time, they handle everything just fine.

[Ironmanbc]

I'll stick with my ol XP pro for now

I am not going to upgrade till I really really REALLY have to

[Fyron]

What did that contribute to the thread, exactly?

[Xrati]

I noticed when I set my router up for my network that it took the ip address of 192.168.1.1 which I had given to my oldest computer. It seemed that it was hardwired into the unit and I had to go change all the other computers ip addresses. Is that the norm for using routers? Not that it caused any problems, but I had to reset all the computers as I had them all in manual ip address settings due to the firewall on the system. I use the router to hook up to the wireless so all the computers can go online at once or just the one I'm using.