[computer12620]

hello,
i am having trouble networking my computers on a windows 2000 platform. I can connect to my brothers computer through a lan connection through a router but i can not connct to a router. After this my brother and i decided after buying a new eathernet card and nothing changing that i am having a software problem. I will need to reformat my computer but unfortuantly my brother saved some valuable things on my computer and i need to keep them which ends up to be 35 gigs of items.the reason i need these is because my brother doesnt have room on his hard drive. How can i reformat my computer but try and still keep the 35 gigs of stuff. I dont have the money to buy a new hard drive for a one use purpose though. If you have an extra harddrive laying around and live in the philedelphia area of PA could i burrow a hard drive or if not how can i save those 35 gigs?
thank you for all of your help.

[computer12620]

correction i cannot connect to my router or the internet

[RoyalW]

I woulg galdly lend you a HDD if I had one and lived near you hehe, but unfortunetly I do not qualify for either of these.
Heard of Partition Magic? Got it?
If you have it or can get access to it (preferaebly v7.0 or v8.0 as I havent used any of the earlier version and it may not have the features that you need) install it on your machine.
With this (must have) program you can create another partition (in your case around 40GB should be more than enough) and you can move the files you dont want to lose onto this new partition.
Then you can format c: and reinstall as you need with all the data backed up on to (assumably) d:

After the reinstallation you can either leave it as is so you can always have a 2nd partition or else Partition Magic also has a 'Merge Partiton' function that will.... merge... them back together again.

No doubt that there maybe other programs that could do the same thing but from personal experience I would reccomend Partition Magic as this process is quite dramatic and one small mistake can cost you 35GB of important things

[computer12620]

yeah i might try that but i have to keep the stuff.if i loose it im in a lot of crap.

[cowticket]

Make sure that the computers have the same/correct protocals installed. This may not be your problem but it has been a problem for me in the past when I do small networking. With XP you don't even need the cd I think. Go to the control panel, then network connections..... Check the stupid stuff like NICS and CAT5. As far as the router goes make sure your computer is directly connected to it. You probably want to try this: refresh the ip address on the computer by going to Start > Run> Type In: Command then hit enter then type: ipconfig /all this will refresh your cards IP Address. open up the manual for your router, then find out the local address for it, Then in internet explorer type in the IP Address for your Router which *MAY look something like this 192.168.0.1

Hope this helps...
Cowticket

Some ideas that may help

[gruntwerk]

What is it that makes you think it is a software problem?
Lets start from the beginning. . .

how close is your pc to your brothers?
What was installed or changed (*on either computer*) just before it stoped working?
if you have a hub between the two computers, what if any lights are on on the hub and the cards behind the computers.

what is the tcpip address/netmask/gateway and name for each computer...
Are there any error messages in the Event Viewer?

[computer12620]

ok well my pc is right next to my brothers.
well games games and more games
ok ok this is what the problem is. my ip is on the ipconfig and everythig is right i reinstalled windows now and guess what same poblem!??!?!?! HELP!!!!

[gruntwerk]

see the previous replys for some other suggestions/info that is needed to help troubleshoot your problem...

Oh your in Philly, - THAT Explains it windoze 2000 wont talk to your brothers computer in the city of brotherly love - Billy Gates wants it that way - its a feature.... Try WFW311 on one of the boxes. . . or just tell windows that your in a different zip/area code and all will be well!!!

[computer12620]

uh i just got dsl and this router is bran new... : I what do u think???

[gruntwerk]

I think that we may have found the problem...
What is the tcp configuration of the computers and of the router. . . (*What type of router is it --- how many ethernet ports does it have*)

does either computer work on the internet? - does the DSL light stay on? The easiest way to get it to work is to set both of the computers to use DHCP and pray that the router knows enuf to assign addresses. . .

You may want to call your service provider and see if their technical support can pry the answers that we need out of you...