Advice on setting up my first home network

Hi i am going to try and set up a small home network tonight, basically so i can store all my files on my desktop pc upstairs but still access them from my laptops. Just wanted to know advice on how to do this... ill tell you the current set up at the min.

Upstairs i have a desktop pc running xp home and it connects wirelessly to the free o2 router downstairs to get on the internet.

I then hape 2 laptops one running vista home and one running xp pro sp2 both connect to the same free o2 router

what is the best way to get them networked together? is it as easy as just going to my comp and putting them all in the same workgroup or is there extra stuff i need to do, Do i need to make sure there are the same users with the same passwords on all the machines too.. once i have them connected i should know how to get all the correct files shared.

One more question once i have successfully got them all networked if i have all the data stored on the machine upstairs, to access it from one of the laptops does the machine just have to be turned on or would i have to be logged onto the machine upstairs.


Hope you can help and advise

Cheers

 

Do you want to just setup file sharing or a full network where 1 user account can be logged into all computers on the network?

 

just file sharing at moment basicall store all our music and pics and work etc on our desktop upstairs but so we can both access them and also obviously still be connected directly to our router... Can the network be set up through the router etc

 

Yes the network can be setup through the router.

You would have to make a "share" or shared folder on the "upstairs" computer.
And on the other computers just map a drive to that folder.

In some cases it may require a username and password to the upstairs computer.

 

Ok i know how to map the drives and share the folders but how do i actually connect the computers together.... do i just have to have them connected the the router then got to my computer and put all 3 machines into the same work group is it as easy as that or do i have to do more. Thank for helping me out i know this is prob a little tedious for you.

 

I'm glad to be assisting you today.

Yes it is as easy as that. Just make them all part of the same workgroup, setup a folder to share, and map the shared directory to a drive letter.

 

Cool going to add them all to a work group in a min and see if i can ping them will let you know how i get on.... thanks again....oh and will the pc upstairs have to actually be logged in because i take it there would be no wireless connection if it was just at the log on screen

 

Added the desktop machine upstairs and my laptop to the same workgroup but the machines cant see each other at all, when i go to view computers in my workgroup i get the error message '.......workgroup is not available or you do not have permission to access this resource'

 

Win XP SP2 machines require an update from Microsoft in order to be able to view Vista machines on a network. Here is the link.

 

No, the upstairs computer will not need to be logged in.

Your "network" will work as long as the "server" is on.

 

Ok thanks for the link i will def need to use that but at the moment im just trying to get my desktop machine upstairs which is running xp home and my laptop which is xp pro to see each other. But it just says the workgroup is not available... really dont understand why tho

 

Did you restart them after you setup the workgroup?

 

yer restarted them both

 

So does it work now?

 

no they still cant see each other, do you have any ideas? my only thought is that maybe the distance is too far, the machine upstairs connects to the router ok but i read somewhere that although it connects it might only be close enough to send info from the router to the machine upstairs and not both ways. Do you know if this could be true?

all i have done so far is connect both machines to the wireless router like i would connecting to the internet, put them both in a workgroup (named the same) and made sure they have the same user account on both machines, also shared some files out but i cant see the machine never mind the files at the moment