Re: How to remove a networked PC?

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:45:49 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Chuck <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:46:25 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Chuck <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 18:36:23 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Chuck <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:12:11 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Chuck <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:41:08 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Ages ago, on this XP SP1 Home PC, I managed to setup an old W98 PC in
my shed/workshop, and was sporadically able to transfer files between
the two. I'd like to get rid of it, but I'm now hazy about how to do
that! Could someone point me in the right direction please?

Also, when I run the diagnostic program SiSoft Sandra on my XP PC,
under the 'Network (LAN)' heading it reports:
'Web Client Network: No domains found: No hosts detected!'
Given that the shed PC has been switched off for a year or so, how
exactly should I interpret that message please?

Hi Terry,

Do you need instructions how to get rid of the computer, or how do you transfer
files from it? ;-)

If the latter, start by telling us how it connects to your network.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html

I'm not familiar with Sisoft Sandra. If you don't have a network right now, you
might consider pulling the hard drive, and installing it in the other computer.
For a one time file transfer, that is by far a simpler solution in many cases.

Thanks both, appreciate the replies.

My requirement is to get rid of the shed W98 PC on my network (and
then, in the interests of simplicity/reliability/performance, *remove*
the 'network', as that W98 PC is the only thing on it.

It is a wireless LAN network. I also have broadband via a router.

If I click My Network Places, and then Entire Network, I see 3
entries:
Microsoft Terminal Services
Microsoft Windows Network
Web Client Network

Opening the first gives an empty window.
Opening the last gives "Unable to browse the network.
The network is not present or not started."

Opening Microsoft Windows Network gives (after 20 seconds) the entry:
Mshome.
I *think* that, as its name implies, that's the name I gave the main
XP PC. R-clicking for Mshome Properties tells me nothing more. But in
that case, why would the network of this XP PC show itself as a
'component'?

Ideally, I'd simply like to remove the entire network at a stroke,
safely and with no other impact. (And that seems to be what Jez wants
too!)

Happy to provide any other information that would be useful.

Any help greatly appreciated please.

Terry,

If the goal is to remove the network, then I think in this case doing a disk to
disk copy will do that with more ease, if you can do that. Your newer computer
probably can hold the entire contents of the Windows 98 hard drive in a small
corner of its hard drive free space.

If not, you're looking at several layers of challenges:
1) WiFi connectivity.
2) IP configuration.
3) File sharing, including Window 98 to XP.

I'll suggest my tutorials, which may give you some idea of a detail or two that
you may have overlooked up to now.

Windows 98 Issues:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/05/older-operating-systems-windows-98.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/05/older-operating-systems-windows-98.html

File Sharing:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html

WiFi and IP:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/networking-your-computers.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/networking-your-computers.html

Thanks.

Wow - that seems dauntingly complicated! All that just to remove an
unwanted home network with only a single computer on it (apart from
the 'host' or whatever this is called)? I was thinking along the lines
of just navigating to the right place once someone told me where that
was, and clicking Delete ;-)

OK, Terry,

Are you simply saying that you are totally finished with the Windows 98
computer? You don't want to transfer files from it?

If so, leave it off, you are done with it. If it's not online, and you don't
need it online, don't worry about it. It doesn't exist.

Thanks Chuck. Yes, that is effectively what I want, you're right. BUT
I am also concerned that my PC's performance may be being affected in
some obscure way by just *having* a network. The overhead and
complexity can't be a good thing, can it? I read (but don't fully
understand) threads referring to situations where the OS is 'looking'
for network connections, every time you do virtually any operation,
and I want to eliminate that risk.

Terry,

OK, if you have a single computer, and really want to remove the network, un
install File and Printer Sharing from the Local Area Connection Properties
wizard. That's if you're still going to connect it to the network, for Internet
access.

But if you're going to connect to the Internet, the performance hit from
non-existent File and Printer Sharing is negligible, compared to Internet
activity.

If you're not connecting to the Internet either, just remove the network cable.

So tell us - what do you intend to do with your computer?

Thanks for the follow-up and for your patience.

Re your last question (assuming you mean my XP PC), the answer is
that, given your comments above, I'm now undecided!

One thing is definite: I see now that I cannot remove the network,
because it would remove broadband internet access via my wireless
router. That obvious point had escaped me when we started this
discussion ;-)

And, if the performance hit is marginal, clearly there's no point in
removing File and Printer Sharing. Also, of course, there are
*benefits* of keeping it in place, the very benefits that prompted me
to add the W98 PC to the network in the first place:
1. Easy file transfer to the shed (I play with electronics gadgets,
and so the W98 is used for that sort of stuff, and as an
oscilloscope).
2. Access to the internet while I'm in the shed.
(Both of those are dependent on signal strength, which is marginal,
and infuriating when it disappears altogether.)

But to keep things in perspective, on the rare occasions I use that
W98 PC, for 99.9% of the time it's in pure standalone mode.

However, I'm still left wondering if some aspect of my network
settings is contributing to the performance problems I'm getting (on
my XP SP1 PC). I'd simplistically hoped to switch 'the network' off to
test that. But one of the main performance problems I'm vexed about
*needs* net access, so that now rules out such a tidy experiment.

Is there any step-by-step 'audit' of network settings you can point me
to please? Even if I don't fully understand them, I could methodically
try different settings or whatever, to see if that makes any
difference.

Terry,

If you have performance problems, or even think that you have them, I would
suggest that you start with Process Explorer, and find out for a certainty what
processes contribute to your problems.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/watching-what-your-computer-is-doing.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/04/watching-what-your-computer-is-doing.html

If your computer is running XP SP1, now, THAT could be part of your problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/08/if-you-have-windows-xp-without-sp2.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/08/if-you-have-windows-xp-without-sp2.html

Having done that, start malware analysis.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/dealing-with-malware-adware-spyware.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/dealing-with-malware-adware-spyware.html

--
Cheers,
Chuck, MS-MVP [Windows - Networking]
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/
Paranoia is not a problem, when it's a normal response from experience.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck mvps org.
.

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