My computers are speaking again
After confirming and double-checking all of my critical information was moved to the new machine, I made a final backup of my laptop and reformatted the drive. There was so much leftover clutter from uninstalled programs and unneeded application data, that I felt it was best to start fresh.The reformat went rather smoothly and the laptop is now the perfect backup machine. I loaded only the essentials back on and was ready to share certain work files with the desktop. When I went to locate the desktop, I ran into a black hole.
At first I thought the problem was the XPS - that it didn’t want to play nice with the other machines. (you know, since it’s all new and shiny). Checking the other two computers in the house, I found that none of the systems could locate the network or see each other.
A quick search on the Internet turned up a multitude of possible solutions. I knew that the hardware was all in place and the router was set to recognize each machine. That left me with the problem being on the actual machines. More searching on the Internet brought me to a forum that talked about IPX/SPX protocols. The thread sounded very similar to the problem I was having, so I followed the instructions and installed the NetBIOS transport and IPX/SPX protocols and all four systems. That did it.
All machines can now see each other across the network and shared files and printers respond appropriately. The laptop is now my portable work station. I can now work from the couch when the urge to prop my feet up hits me. With the shared access, I can open my desktop files from the laptop and not worry about missing an update because the file was on the other system.
Now, if only my PDA would finally be delivered.
