Network Setup Windows 3.11

Setting Up Networking With
Windows 3.11

Setting Up Networking.	DOS Networking
Accessing computer on the Network.	Networking Windows 3.11 on a Ramdrive.
Sharing Files To A Network.

If you have Windows For Workgroups 3.11 installed, you can network to other computers. Much like the Internet, the computers can be running different operating systems. Windows 3.11 can log on to a Windows 95, 98, ME machine and others, as well as another Windows 3.11 or DOS machines. There are, of course, limitations. If you log on to a Windows 9.x machine with a Windows 3.x or DOS machine, you cannot use long filenames. If you open and close a long filename file with a DOS or Windows 3.x machine, it will no longer have a long filename.

While in Windows 3.11, the machine can be both a client and a server. While you can access a network at DOS, the machine cannot act as a server using Windows 3.11 files.

Windows 3.1 can also network. But that is limited to what DOS networking program you are running. You can access Mapped Network drives through DOS windows or the File Manager. You just can't change any network setting with Windows 3.1.

Installing The Network Drivers

After Windows 3.11 has been installed, you can set up Networking (if you have a LAN card installed). After you install a Netcard (LAN, Local Area Network) in the machine, Run Windows.

On the Main Menu, select Windows Setup.

The Setup Menu will come up.

Select Options, Change Network Settings.

The Network Setup menu will come up. If this is the first time a network is being set up on this Windows, the Sharing and Drivers buttons will be grayed out.

Click on the Networks button.

The Networks menu will come up.

Click on Install Microsoft Windows Network: Then click The OK button

You will return to the Network Setup menu.

This time, select Sharing.

The Sharing menu comes up.

Select I want to give other access to my files. This is only necessary if you want this computer to act as a server. If you have a printer connected to the computer you can also check I want to be able to allow other print to my printer. If neither box is checked, you will be able to access other computers on a Network. But you will not be able to allow Network access to files on your computer. Click OK.

You will return to the Network Setup menu. The items you have checked will be listed left of the Sharing button.

This time, select Drivers.

The Network Drivers menu will appear.

Select Add Adapter.

The Add Network Adapter menu will appear.

If you Netcard is listed, select it from the list. Then click OK. You will go to the Network Adapters: menu.

If you Netcard is not listed, select Unlisted or updated Network adapter. then click OK.

The Install Driver menu will appear.

Type the path to the The OEMSETUP.INF file. You may need to find this location from the documentation that came with the Network Card or its Driver Disk. When you have the path, click OK.

The Driver should be listed on the Unlisted or updated Network adapter menu.

Click OK.

You should return to the Network Drivers menu, this time with the Driver and protocols listed.

Highlight IPX/SPX Compatible Transport with NetBIOS and click on Set as Default Protocol. Unless the Nework you will be loging on to uses different Protocols, IPX/SPX should work the best. You can add other protocols or change the default by returning to this menu.

Now click the Close button.

You are back where you began, only the blanks are filled in.

Click OK to exit the menu.

The Network Names Menu should appear.

The Username: can be any name. If there are multiple users on the computer, this can control what network properties are set up for each user (the name and password for each shared drive).

The Computer Name: must be unique on the network. Each computer must have a different name.

Unless there is a different name for the Workgroup:, this should remain Workgroup.

Click OK. The files should begin to install. You may get a window:

requesting the location of the Netcard drivers (which you already entered) Enter the path again. Although it may be part of the LAN Card's driver disk, you have the option here to install a different (later?) driver.

When the file copy finishes, you be notified that the SYSTEM.INI file has been modified and backed up. When you click OK, you will be prompted to reboot the computer. You will have to reboot your computer for the Netcard Drivers to load.

The line Net Start is added to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. When the computer starts, you should see The command was completed successfully when it executes or if you type that at the command prompt.

When Windows starts, you may see a delay of up to a minute as Windows starts. This is normal when a computer is networked. If you have the system set up to serve the network or have drives mapped, these will normally be re-established during Windows startup.

While you can log on to the network at DOS (See DOS Networking), You will get a warning that Windows will not have full services with it running. You can still access other computers already mapped. but you cannot change the settings or log on as a server until you Log off in DOS (not a DOS window). At DOS you can access the Network by typing:
Net logon

Connecting to the Network

Once the Network Drivers are set up and loaded, you can open the File Manager and click on Disk File menu.

If you do not have File Sharing turned on, there will only be a Connect Network Drive and a Disconnect Network Drive option added to the menu. If If you do have File Sharing turned on, there will be a Share As and a Stop Sharing option added to the menu as well.

Click on Connect Network Drive.

The Drive option allows you to choose a drive letter for the drive you are about to connect to. You can drop down to see what letter are available. You can type the letter of your choice if the box is active.

Show Shared Directories On: lists computers found on the Network by their assigned names. It will include the computer you are accessing with if you have Sharing on. If you highlight one of the computers, the shared Networks drives for that computer will be listed in the lower window, Shared Directories:

Checking the Reconnect at Startup box will automatically reconnect the drive (if it is found)each time you start Windows.

Checking the Always Browse box will display the contents of the drive.

Click OK to finish and connect the drive. You must repeat this for each drive you want to map.

Once you are finished, each mapped drive will be a drive letter that you treat like it is a hard drive in your computer.

Sharing Your Files

On the File Manager, click on Disk File menu. Select Share As.

For Share Name, give something to identify the drive. It could be the drive letter or some other description.

For Path: enter the drive letter, if sharing the whole drive, or the drive letter and path if you are sharing only a directory and its sub-directories.

Comment is optional.

If the Re-share At Startup box is checked, the drive will automatically be available on the Network each time Windows is started.

For Access Type: you can have:
Read Only which will let others copy from your drive, but they can make no changes to your drive.

Full Access give anyone on the Network the ability to delete anything on the Shared Drive.

Depends On Password Allows two differnt passwords to be assigned to each drive. Without a password, the drive is not accessible. With one password it is Read Only. With the other password, a user has Full Access to the shared drive. If you have multiple computers on your LAN, it gives you some security.

Once you have entered all the data, click OK to log the drive onto the Network. You can repeat this to share multiple drives or directories.

Selecting Stop Sharing from the Disk menu will list the drives you have shared. Highlight the one you want to unshare and click OK.

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Updated July 15, 2001