matching new and old

Hi. I've got one PC running Win98SE, networked (10/100)
with one running Win 97. Both run into a Belkin router and
into a cable modem. No problems (surprisingly!) Could
anyone spell out how I can bring an old 386 running WfW
3.11 in on the network, please?

 

The key to Windows networking is to use the same, single protocol on
all computers. Using the same workgroup name on all computers isn't
strictly necessary, but it makes networking a little easier.

WfW 3.11 comes with NetBEUI and IPX/SPX, but not TCP/IP. However,
there's a TCP/IP download available from Microsoft, Install it, and
then un-install NetBEUI and IPX/SPX:

How to Obtain TCP/IP-32 3.11b for Windows for Workgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=99891

For WfW 3.11 network setup information, see:

http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wfw311ni.htm

 

So, on a network where all machines are running W98SE,
all with File-And-Printer-Sharing installed, and all with only
tcp/ip bound to their network cards, you'd expect it all
to work, Mr.Winograd?

(Sorry, that reads back a little truculent - not intended!)

I've a small network, and ignoring the 5 machines which are not
running Microsoft products at all (and not all LINUX/UNIX, that's another
story, I'll discuss it some time, (and which are switched off and
disconnected when trying to evaluate the problem below)),....

Two machines are old AL440LX Motherboards running Pentium II
at 233 MHz, each with a 10MHz NIC.
One machine is an Olivetti Laptop (model 510) with a 333MHz Celeron.
It has a PCMCIA 10/100MHz NIC.
The hub/router is an "MRi" ADSL modem.

What works.....
The two old 233 MHZ machines can see each other, and I can
transfer files and cross-print to each other's printer. Both machines can
see the laptop under "Network Neighbourhood" and the laptop can
see the other two, but attempts to copy files or print from/to
the laptop fail after about 30 secs with an error message along
the lines of "Network resource no longer available".

All 3 machines, however can access the Internet OK.

Is the inter-working problem likely to be caused by buffer overflows because
of the 100MHz card swamping the 10 MHz cards, possibly?

(I'm embarrassed to be asking, I'm a softy of 30 years experience
primarily in embedded/real-Time, with some PC experience, but
I just don't have time to bone up on this area, which isn't my field.)

 

Thanks for your interesting info. - I've got to go working
abroad just now, but will try your fix as soon as I return.
Regards, Peter