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Home Networking with Windows XP |
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1/28/2000
Also See:
A Home Networking Operating System!
Microsoft delivered a copy of their next operating system to my doorstep recently. This new operating system, Windows XP, will be replacing the Windows 9x/ME line and the Windows NT/2000 line of operating systems. The idea is to unify Microsoft desktop users and developers under a single OS. In this article I will be examining the home networking features in Windows XP. I have chosen to examine the personal version of Windows XP since it will be the most popular version used for home networks.
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Beta Note |
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Nowhere in this article will I be stating
any benchmarks. HomeNetHelp does not be benchmark beta software.
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The networking setup and configuration in Windows XP extends on the interface in Windows 2000. The interface is clean and simple, yet makes some very powerful features easily available. If you have done any networking with Win2k, Windows XP should be very familiar – with the addition of a few tabs and buttons here and there.
The most obvious
changes in Windows XP networking include:
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Removal of support for
NetBEUI!
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IP Over Firewire support
Support for an “Alternate configuration” in TCP/IP
properties
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Internet Personal Firewall
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Media Bridging or “Mixed Media” bridging
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Improved Internet Connection Sharing
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Improved home networking wizard
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802.1x (port base authentication)
Removal of
NetBEUI
Microsoft is apparently dropping official
support for its infamous NetBEUI protocol. Additionally, Appletalk will be
available only on the ‘server‘ edition of Windows XP. Microsoft has dropped
support because the “protocols implement non-Internet technologies”.
Installation instructions for NetBEUI protocol
on Windows XP and Windows 2002.
* copy nbf.sys into the
%SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ directory
* copy netnbf.inf into the %SYSTEMROOT%\INF\
directory
* open network connection properties and use
"Install..." button to add NetBEUI protocol
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