Oh, yeah, duh. A DHCP server helps for that too, because then you can tell all the machines to automatically look at the WINS server. DHCP is a good thing.
Is this something built into XP Professional?
Because we have so few people in our office, I dropped our Windows 2000 server for an XP shared file thingy (since 2000 was overkill), and if there’s anything I can do to make it more reliable, I’m all for it.
Is this something built into XP Professional?
Because we have so few people in our office, I dropped our Windows 2000 server for an XP shared file thingy (since 2000 was overkill), and if there’s anything I can do to make it more reliable, I’m all for it.[/quote]
Nope. Windows servers only.
Google Groups for “Windows XP Pro - DNS or Wins Server” and you’ll find a thread from MSFT saying “Nope.”
Linux running on an old PC could do it with no user intervention once it was set up.
WINS is not in XP Pro. It is a hold out from NT days and is being phased out as a naming service in favor of DNS. You could probably get a copy of NT cheap on ebay.
What were the problems you were experiencing? Could you just setup one PC with XP Pro to act as a file server, then just leave it on all the time? Have everyone map a network drive to that machine for file sharing.
If printing is the issue, purchase a little print server (~$30) that attaches to the network and the printer and then makes the printer available round the clock, regardless of state of individual computers.
Fair enough. Makes sense; they don’t really want people doing what I’m doing.
Linux running on an old PC could do it with no user intervention once it was set up.
Yeah, but I just don’t have the time or desire to figure out Linux. I used to build Unix systems for doctors offices (SCO Unix, the great friends of Linux) and would prefer to never go there again. Not to mention I’d suddenly have that Slashdot feeling of superiority. If I want that, I’ll buy a Mac.
You can also use this syntax in a web page link to open an IE window to a shared folder on the network.
FILE://\\servername\sharename
When it processes the link, IE strips the FILE part out. If you had an intranet, you could post an internal web page, with a list of all available shares on your network. Sort of ghetto network neighborhood. :)
Edit: this board does not like the FILE type links.