Installing a network
Installing the NICs
Many new PCs have network cards built in, but in older secondhand models you'll generally have to fit new cards.
The first thing you need to do is to check what type of free "slots" you have available to take the cards. Disconnect one of your PCs from the mains and open the casing to inspect the motherboard. You'll probably see one or two cards installed already (e.g. sound, graphics) with their connections sticking out of the back of the computer.
The
long black slots are for ISA cards, which are very hard to find new these
days. The shorter white slots are for PCI cards and hopefully you will have
at least one of these free on the motherboard. Do yourself a favour and buy
identical cards for all the machines in your teaching room it'll make life
easier.
Having obtained your NICs, open the first PC and insert a card into a free slot on the motherboard - you may have to remove a blanking plate from the back of the PC casing first. PCI slots are a very tight fit and it can be quite a struggle to get the card in. It may help to insert one end slightly ahead of the other, but in any case, don't be frightened to push hard - I have yet to snap a motherboard! Remember to screw the card to the back of the case to prevent it moving.
Make sure you haven't disturbed any wiring and then reassemble the computer case and boot the computer. Almost certainly, Windows will find the new card and offer to install the software for it. Accept the offer and then insert the floppy disk containing the driver software that came with the NIC. During the installation Windows will ask you where to find the driver, so point it at the floppy drive. If it doesn't find the right driver you may have to point it at the appropriate folder on the floppy disk - check the instructions that came with it (if you're lucky!) or use common sense.
When the driver installation is complete you'll be asked if you want to reboot the computer. Don't do that yet as you may as well configure the network settings while you're at it.
Networking software
It's a good idea to install only the minimum networking components required to run the network. For a Windows 9x system with no Internet access you need only
- Client for Microsoft Networks
- Net BEUI
- File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
Double click the Network icon in the Control Panel to inspect the network properties. You will see an icon for the network adapter you have just installed and several protocols and services which are installed by default (these vary with the version of Windows). Remove any which are not in the list above and install any which are not.
For example, to install Net BEUI click the Add button and then double click on the word Protocol. From the list of manufacturers on the left of the next dialogue box select Microsoft and then select Net BEUI from the protocols on the right.
Click on the File and Print Sharing button and elect to share files, printers, or both. If you don't have a printer attached to the computer then don't select the share printer option - you can still share other printers on the network.
Still in network properties, click on the Identification tab and give the computer a name. In a large room full of PCs we usually start numbering at the master and work up and down the rows in a "snake" - see the room layout diagram. You can call the PCs (almost) anything you want, but PC-01, PC-02 seems okay to boring old me. Why not PC-1, PC-2? Because when you have more than nine PCs in your work group, you'll find that PC-10 is listed before PC-2, which looks strange. As for the workgroup name, choose something short and meaningful - the name of the school, for example, if you are setting up a school lab. Make sure you type the workgroup name exactly the same on every PC or they won't be able to see each other. As for the Computer Description field, I have yet to find a use for this.
Now you should restart the computer to complete the network installation. As Windows restarts you will be prompted for a login name and password. Type the computer name (e.g. PC-01) and leave the password field blank. Confirm the blank password when asked and you will not see the login dialogue again. Since Windows 9x login does not offer any security or access control it is a waste of time getting students to log in - they often click cancel or mess it up and then you find half the class are not logged in to the network! Better to allow the PC to logon automatically by setting a blank password...
Sharing
There is one last setting to change. Although you have enabled file and (perhaps) printer sharing, Windows does not automatically share anything. In a classroom we usually share My Documents on each PC so that students can sit anywhere and still have access to their folders. Open My Computer, navigate to My Documents and then right click on it. From the drop down menu select Sharing and grant full access. Click okay and then check that the My Documents icon on the desktop has a hand cupping it, denoting that it is now shared. Note that you cannot share My Documents by clicking on its icon on the Desktop, you have to do it via My Computer. If you have a printer attached to the computer you can share it in the printers folder. You can also share floppy drives and CD drives - useful on occasion.