can you network 2 PCs if one is 98 and one is XP?

[cmpgeek]

hey yall,
i am fixing to network my home PCs, but wanted to check on something... my PC is on windows XP, but both of my roommates are on windows 98 or 98 SE... is it still possible to network these PCs, or do i need to "downgrade" to 98 SE?
i dont notice much difference between 98 and XP, so it is no big deal if i have to go back to 98, but i wanted to check and see what was the best way to go...

thanks in advance...

my vital stats: Crystal 8.5 / Oracle database / Windows 2000 Professional Edition...
... always in a state of ... inspiring to some day experience ...

 

[admin4real]

you can use network xp with 98, ME, or windows 2000, as long as the harddrive is formatted with FAT32 not with NTFS. If it is with NTFS i dont know of any way you can share files over the network with other windows OS's. If hd is NTFS you can either reformat hd in FAT32 or convert it to FAT32 here

http://www.buildorbuy.org/ntfstofat32.html

 

[cmpgeek]

how do i find out what my hard drive id formatted with?

my vital stats: Crystal 8.5 / Oracle database / Windows 2000 Professional Edition...
... always in a state of ... inspiring to some day experience ...

 

[bcastner]

. XP can work in a Windows network with previous Windows clients.

. There is absolutely no issue with having NTFS and being in a network with Win9x clients. None. The filestore being used by the XP machine when it shares files makes no difference. The shares are easily read and written by Win9x clients.

. See Steve Winograd's detailed guides:
Simple File Sharing Enabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm

Simple File Sharing Disabled

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm

 

[gerschwin]

Agreed with above - absolutely no need to reformat the drive - I have successfully networked 98 + NT/2000 with mixed FAT and NTFS no problem.

Heres a quick guide:

1) Install a Common protocol, either NetBEUI or TCP/IP
2) Give an IP on both machines (could be in private range) - make sure you can ping machines
3) Install File and Printer Sharing
4) Put machines in same Workgroup
5) Make the resources available by Sharing folders on the machines
6) If you used Windows XP pro, create a username for the user on 98
7) Login on the Windows95/98/ME system on startup with the username and password defined
in the step above, when connecting to Windows XP Professional :
8) Network Neighborhood should allow access to XP (XP My Network Places or Computers Near Me)

Also have a look at Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q258717

 

[cmpgeek]

thank you both for your advice... i will try this tonight once i get home...

thanks again!

my vital stats: Crystal 8.5 / Oracle database / Windows 2000 Professional Edition...
... always in a state of ... inspiring to some day experience ...