Dummies, Wireless

Chapter 10: Putting Your Wireless Home Network to Work
After you install this update on your XP machine, if you still have issues with
sharing your XP and Vista machines, the reason could be that the LLTD protocol
is disabled on the network adapter of the XP machine or is not supported
by the network adapter itself (a likely culprit).
In Windows Vista, Microsoft installed the IPv6 protocol as a default on all network
adapters. If you find that you are still having issues sharing, you will
need to remove the IPv6 protocol. From the Network and Sharing Center,
choose Manage Network Connections and then select the View Details link of
the connection. Click the Properties button to display the Properties dialog
box for the connection. Deselect the IPv6 protocol to turn it off. For most
home networks, you will be using only IPv4; having IPv6 on the network is
just futureproofing your investments. We don’t like to turn this off on our
Vista machines, and we strongly recommend that you don’t unless this is the
absolute last thing to try to get things working correctly.
At this point, unless you have an oddly configured XP firewall or a highly
secured PC, your Vista machine should be connected to your home network.
If you have more than one workgroup in your home, you can also turn on
Network Sharing and Discovery — located in the Network and Sharing Center.
This will allow your computer to see other network computers and devices,
and makes your computer visible to those other workgroups.
Sharing in Microsoft Windows Vista
Keep in mind that sharing opens up your machine to anyone and anything on
your network. We strongly recommend that you turn on password-protected
sharing, which is a feature you access through your Network and Sharing
Center. Although Microsoft added a lot of extra windows and menu layers to
every process, we have to admit that Vista has gone a long way in simplifying
many operations, and lets you get things done in a more intuitive way. You
can click an option to turn on and off password-protected sharing. With the
password-protected sharing feature on, only users with a login and password
can access shared files and folders.
To give access to users on your network, you need to create user accounts
for them on your Vista machine. The process is the same as the one for
Windows XP.
To create a user account:
1. Click the Start orb, and select Control Panel.
2. Choose User Accounts.
3. If you have only one account, select the Manage Another Account link
on the Manage Your Account screen.
The Add or Remove User Accounts screen appears.
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