Net Watcher enables you to monitor other computer users who are accessing resources on your network. Additionally, Net Watcher permits you to see which resources, such as folders, that you have shared with (or made available to) the rest of the network. This feature applies only to users who are connected to a network, so if you do not have a network connection, then this feature is not for you.
Prior to running the Net Watcher utility, you must have the Client for Microsoft Networks installed with the File and Print Sharing options enabled. To run Net Watcher, do the following:
The Control Panel's Network feature enables you to install and modify the necessary networking client and protocol software required to make a computer talk to a network. To open the Network dialog box, do the following:
- The Configuration tab, shown in Figure N.10, enables you to view which network components are currently installed on your computer, to add or remove components, and to modify the properties of installed components.
- The Identification tab, shown in Figure N.11, enables you to specify the name of your computer, the workgroup in which it appears, and a short description of the computer.
NOTE: The name of the computer must be unique, must not exceed 15 characters (numbers and letters are acceptable), and should be descriptive.
NOTE: The name of the workgroup should be the same as the networking domain to which you most often connect, or it should be the same as the domain of the server that authenticates you to the network. As with the computer name, it cannot exceed 15 characters (numbers and letters are acceptable).
NOTE: The computer name and workgroup name must be different. Windows 98 will not permit these two fields to contain the same name!
NOTE: User-level access control is possible only if your network administrator permits it and has preconfigured the network to support it.
Adding a Network Component
To add a network component, do the following:
- Client Click this option if you are installing client software, such as Novell Directory Services or the Microsoft Client for Microsoft Networks.
- Adapter Click this option if you are installing network interface card (NIC) software for vendors such as 3Com or Compaq, ISDN network software for EICON NICs, or the Microsoft-specific software for TV Data adapters or virtual private networking (VPN) devices.
- Protocol Click this option if you are installing a protocol such as TCP/IP, NetBEUI, the Novell IPX ODI protocol, or an ATM protocol.
- Service Click this option if you are installing a service such as File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing for Novell Networks, or the Backup Exec Agent for Seagate Software.
NOTE: If you have a disk containing a client, adapter, protocol, or service that does not appear in the list, add it by clicking the Have Disk button (this button appears after you have selected the type of network component you want to install).
Configuring Resource Sharing
Resource sharing is essentially the act of making your local computer's files and printers available to others across the network. An important fact to keep in mind is that when you use Dial-Up Networking to connect to another computer system (such as the Internet, an Online Service Provider, or your corporate networks), other people on those systems may have the ability to access your computer. Therefore, it is very important that if you do establish a share for one of your system's resources, you should do so carefully. Always assign a password to anything that you should share.
To configure resource sharing, do the following:
Removing Unused Network Software
If your computer is not connected to a network, it is wise to remove the network software that is built into Windows 98 from your computer because this software consumes hard disk space and memory as well as system resources. To remove the network software, simply highlight the option you want to remove in the Configuration tab of the Network dialog box (see Figure N.15), and then click the Remove button.
The Windows 98 Network Neighborhood displays all computers presently connected to your network (some Windows NT computers might not appear, as well as most PCs that do not run Microsoft operating systems). If you do not have any network drivers installed on your PC, the Network Neighborhood icon is not displayed on your Windows 98 desktop. This section quickly demonstrates how to access a computer's resources that have been shared on your network:
NOTE: Because it is possible to hide a computer from the Windows 98 browser window, you might not be able to view all the computers on the network in the Network Neighborhood window. (This is the exception, however-- not the norm.)
To explore Network Neighborhood's other options, right-click the Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop to view the shortcut menu shown in Fig-ure N.18.
Among other things, this menu enables you to quickly map a network drive. When you map a drive, it basically means that a new "logical" drive letter is assigned to a direct path to server-based resources. To map a drive, do the following:
A network printer is nothing more than a computer printer that is available to other computers in addition to the one to which the printer has been physically attached. If your computer is not attached to a network, then you do not have access to a network printer. Likewise, you cannot expect your neighbors to be able to connect to one of your locally connected printers unless all of you are on the same network (LAN or WAN).
Newsgroups are electronically based forums on the Internet where interested parties can exchange information in a text-based manner.
There are literally tens of thousands of Internet newsgroups available to the general public. If there is a topic of any kind that interests you, then there is certain to be an Internet newsgroup that focuses on that topic. The Microsoft Outlook Express client software that is integrated into the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser is a great tool for perusing these newsgroups.
Notepad enables you to create or edit non-formatted text files. These files cannot exceed 64 KB in size, and are saved into the ASCII file format. If you want formatting such as colored text or funky fonts, or if you want to have files that are larger than 64 KB, then you should use WordPad (it, like Notepad, is built into the Windows 98 operating system).
To use Notepad, do the following:
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