Recently, a friend of mine sent me this email:

“I have three computers in my office: One that is running Windows 2000 and two that are running Windows ME. All three are connected to a Linksys router that is connected to a cable modem.

“All three computers can get to the Internet just fine, but they cannot connect to each other.

“What am I doing wrong?”

If this has ever happened to you, here is what you need to check:

1. Make sure that all the computers belong to the same Workgroup and have unique names.

2. Make sure that the Windows 2000 computer has an account that the Windows ME computers can use to log onto the network.
3. Make sure that all three computers are using NetBEUI protocol.
4. Make sure that any firewalls are configured to allow 2 way access to the “trusted” computers.
5. Make sure that all the folders are properly shared out.

I will write in more detail about each of these steps in the coming days.