Network
and Internet Connections
|
Introduction
Windows XP provides many ways using which
to network or link computers at home, at office or to the Internet. Windows XP
provides easy-to-follow wizards to help create, manage, and secure your
network. You can setup five types of network connections i.e., dial-up
connections, local area connections, virtual private network connections,
direct connections using serial or parallel cables, and, call in to a remote
access server from your home or office. It is also possible to set up wired
connections or wireless connections to connect to other computers or the
Internet. Windows XP also allows setting up a Firewallthat blocks access to the computer from
the Internet or a network program and service that is not trusted.
In this chapter, we describe the Network and
Internet Connections of
Windows XP. The chapter describes creating and managing the network
connections, setting up a wired and wireless connection, setting up the
Firewall, and making Internet settings using the Internet options.
Start Network Connections
The network connections setting in Windows
XP specifies how to connect the computer to a network. It might also be needed
to change the network settings if the Internet Service Provider (ISP) is
changed.
New Connection
To
create a new connection, the New Connection Wizard has to be started. The new
connection wizard helps to create a connection to the Internet, to another
computer, or to the workplace network. The New Connection Wizard supports
setting up the different types of network connections like broadband, Virtual
Private Network (VPN), modem dialup, serial port, parallel port and infrared.
The New Connection Wizard allows the following:
·
Set up a computer to connect to the Internet using a dial-up
modem, a cable or DSL modem, or LAN connection. The Internet Service Provider
(ISP) would have provided the settings to be included on the computer.
·
Connect the computer to a private network, such as the company
network, using dial-up or VPN connection to work from home or another location.
Your company/organization must give the access right for the VPN.
·
Connect the computer to an existing home or small office network
or set up a new one. Assign a unique name for your computer and type in the
workgroup name correctly.
·
Set up a Direct Cable Connection (DCC) between two computers using
serial, parallel, or infrared port.
·
Set up your computer for incoming connection that allows other
computers on the local network or on the Internet to connect to it.
Network Connection
Several network management tasks can be
performed on a network connection. To manage a network connection, do as
follows:
·
Click on the connection you want to manage. Network management
task can be performed on this connection in two ways:
Network Setup
The
Network Setup wizard is used after physically connecting all computers in the
network with the necessary hardware. The Network Setup Wizard helps do the
following:
·
Configure all computers in the network to share one Internet
connection through a hub, gateway etc.
·
Set up Windows Firewall to protect the computer or network when it
is connected to the Internet.
·
Enable file and printer sharing so that certain files, folders, or
printers can be accessed by all computers in the network.
Sharing of Files
Windows
XP allows the local sharing and network sharing of the files and folders. To
share a file or folder with other users, perform the following steps:
- Right-click
on the folder name you want to share.
- Click
<Properties>.
- Click
<Sharing>.
- Click on Shared
Documents for the
local sharing (Figure 20.11). Click on Network
Setup Wizard for
the network sharing of the file or folder.
Connect using Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A VPN provides remote users with secure
access to the organization’s network via public infrastructure such as
Internet. To connect to the VPN, first make the settings required to make the
connection, as follows:
·
<Start><Control Panel><Network and Internet
Connections><Network connection><Create a new connection>. The New
Connection Wizard appears.
Click Next.
·
Select Virtual Private Network connection. Click Next.
·
In the Company Name text
box, type the name given by your company for the connection. Click Next.
·
In the Host name or IP address text box, type the host name of our
company’s computer to which you want to connect to. Click Next.
·
Select My use on. Click Next.
·
Check the checkbox for Add a shortcut to this connection to my desktop.
Click Finish
·
Click Cancel to exit.
Wired Network
Wired networks offer good performance,
reliability and security. Wired networks are used to connect your desktop
computer to the Internet and to other computers in your home. If you have a
single computer, connecting to the Internet requires plugging a network cable
into the computer and the modem. If there is more than one computer, connect a
router between your modem and your computers. If the computer is in a different
room from that of the router, a network extender can be used to connect the
computer.
Automatic Wireless Network Connections
Windows XP allows establishing a wireless
network connection to Wi-Fi network routers and access points automatically.
This feature helps to make wireless Internet or Wi-Fi network connections
easily with laptop computers. The steps to be followed to establish a wireless
network connection automatically are as follows:
·
Check whether the Windows XP computer supports automatic wireless
configuration. For this do as follows:
o
<Start><Control Panel><Network and Internet
Connections><Network Connections>
o
Right-click <Wireless Network Connection><Properties>
Set up Internet Properties—Internet Options
Once you are connected to the Internet, you
need to use the Web Browser to access the World Wide Web (WWW). The Internet
Explorer is a Web browser software that comes bundled with the Windows
software. Internet can be accessed by clicking on the Internet Explorer icon . The
Internet Explorer settings can be modified using the Internet Options. Internet
Options allows you to change the settings of Internet Explorer, but it cannot
be used to change the settings of other Web browsers.
Internet Connection
With the growth of technology, the content
on the Web has also changed. Now web applications include content like
animations, online gaming, database-driven Web sites and e-commerce. Thus, the
need for speed as to how fast we can connect to the Internet has changed.
The overall connection speeds of the
different types of Internet connections are given below. There can be
variations amongst different Internet Service Providers (ISP).
Assembling a PC
Components of PC
A computer installed at your office or home
generally has the following components externally—(1) System unit, (2)
Keyboard, (3) Mouse, and (4) Monitor. In addition to this you may have other
external components like printer, external drives etc., which can generally be
attached to a port on the computer case.
·
System
Unit is the
main component of computer. The system unit is a tower like unit which
comprises of the chassis and
the internal components of PC. The internal components of the PC include (1)
Motherboard or system board, (2) Processor or CPU, (3) RAM, (4) Hard Disk Drive
(HDD), (5) Power Supply Unit (PSU), (6) Optical drive, and (7) Video card or
Graphics card. It also consists of fan and ports to connect components like
keyboard, monitor etc.
·
Monitor enables the user to view the text and the
graphical output. The display devices may vary in shape, size and the
technology used.
·
Keyboard
and Mouse enable
the user to enter data into the computer.
·
Peripheral
Devices provide
alternative methods for data input and output, or additional data storage. The
external devices are connected to the system unit via a cable or a wireless
connection.
Selecting the Components
To build the PC, you will need to purchase
the following components.
·
Tower case or chassis
·
Motherboard
·
CPU/Processor
·
DDR2 RAM
·
Hard disk drive
·
Optical drive
·
Monitor
·
Keyboard and Mouse
Typical Desktop PC Configuration
·
When you purchase PC from the market or assemble it, your
specifications may read as follows-
·
PC specs 1—
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 3.2GHz with
Hyper-Threading Technology and 800MHz FSB
Intel® 865G chipset
1GB DDR2 dual-channel 400Mhz
80GB serial ATA150 7200rpm hard drive w/2MB
cache
Integrated ultra ATA100 and serial ATA150
controllers
48x/24x/48x CD-RW/DVD combo drive
In 4-bay small form factor case: 1 PCI and
1 AGP
(8) USB 2.0 (2 in front and 6 in back) (1)
Serial(1) Parallel(2) PS/2
(1) RJ-45 Integrated LAN(1) VGA(1)
Microphone front audio ports
17″ LCD Flat Panel Display
Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 with
up to 64MB dynamic video memory
104+ Keyboard
USB Optical Wheel Mouse and mouse pad
Integrated Sound Blaster compatible audio
Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 Ethernet
(Gigabit) adapter
·
PC specs 2—
INTEL DUAL CORE-3.4 GHz
17″ SVGA MONITOR
512MB DDR 2 RAM
80 GB SATA HDD
SPEAKERS
MM KB
MOUSE OPTICAL
COMBO DRIVE
CABINET WITH 400W SMPS
10–100 MBPS LAN
4x AGP FOR GAMING
ONE PARALLEL PORT, 4 HIGH SPEED USB
Assembling the PC
Before you start assembling the PC, make
sure you have the following components—
·
Metal casing with power supply and a set of screws, connectors and
cables.
·
Motherboard
·
Processor
·
RAM modules
·
Storage devices—hard drive, DVD-ROM drives
·
Expansion cards
Generally, the motherboard comes with the
in-built sound card, modem, graphics card, LAN card etc. In case you wish to
add your own card, expansion slots (Figure A.13) are
provided in the motherboard.
·
PCI slots run at 32 bits. Most modern sound cards are designed
with the PCI interface and connect to the PCI slot of the motherboard. Find a
free PCI slot on your motherboard (assuming your modem is a PCI modem). Place
your modem card on top of the slot and gently push it down into position.
·
PCI Express slots run at 64 bits. This is a very fast bus, used
for graphic cards, and spotted by its brown colour.
Final Stage
After having installed all the necessary
hardware, do the following things before switching on the PC for the first
time.
·
The ATX case (Figure
A.14) has (1) a power switch which turns the PC on, (2) a reset switch
for resetting the system, (3) a power LED which comes on when the PC is
switched on, (4) a hard drive LED which flashes when data is being written or
read from your hard drive, and (5) an internal speaker.
Figure A.14. Power and
reset switch
·
Connect the switches and LED’s to its corresponding connectors on
the motherboard. To locate the connectors, refer to the motherboard manual. The
connectors for the switches and LED’s are normally grouped together.
·
Every cable is normally labeled; they are normally named as
follows, but could be slightly different on your system. (Power switch—PWR-SW;
Reset switch—Reset; Power LED—PWR-LED; Hard drive LED—HDD LED; Speaker—SPK
·
The connectors on the motherboard are also labeled. Refer to the
motherboard manual which would provide details on which pins you should connect
the cables to.
·
After having connected all the cables to the correct pins on the
motherboard close the cover of the ATX case but don’t screw it. You might have
possible problems that need rectifying. Connect all the cables to back of ATX
case—main power cable that connects to the power supply, PS/2 mouse and
keyboard that connects to the PS/2 ports. Monitor cable that connects to the
graphics card port, etc.
·
Switch on the monitor first. Now switch the PC on by pressing the
power switch on the front of the ATX case. If you have performed all the tasks
without any mistakes and providing that none of the main components are faulty,
the PC should boot. When the PC boots you can see the name of BIOS
manufacturer, displayed on the monitor. The CPU type, speed and the amount of
memory is also displayed.
·
Currently, plug and play BIOS are used which are set to automatic
device detection by default. You can see the devices being detected followed by
a prompt about missing operating system. Now, an operating system must be
installed before actually using the computer.
·
If things did not go smoothly and the PC does not switch on then
do the troubleshooting.
Personal computer
Figure 2.21. Motherboard and connected devices
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