Keep LAN fileprintsharing off of the web XPPro,Home,98? 1

[torandson]

Hi,
I will be using a Linksys DSL Router-4-port-switch to connect 3 multi-boot systems and an HP all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax to my LAN and the web.

The computers are XP Pro, XP home, Windows 98SE, Windows 98, and Linux, depending on what OS I boot into. The best all-XP configuration is 2x XP Pro and 1x XP home (unless I re-install an OS).

Any Windows OS will have access to that machine's data partitions having shared folders, so I could live with getting this working for only one of the many possible configurations of the three desktops. (On the other hand, getting it working with one of the machines booted into Linux would also be very useful.)

(Plus there's also an XPHome/Linux laptop that will have to switch places with one of the computers to get on the LAN.)

Can I set this up so the computers can share folders and printer without these being seen or accessed from the web?

Can I keep a browser on one or more of these machines offline, too? In other words, is there a way to make a machine on this LAN invisible to the Internet?

--torandson

 

[bcastner]

See, generally:

http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/netbios.htm#ShieldsUp

Q1: Can I set this up so the computers can share folders and printer without these being seen or accessed from the web?

A1: You are behind a NAT router. The machines cannot be accessed from the web without manual port forwarding in the router setup. Furthermore they are using private lan ip addresses that are not web accessible.

Q2: Can I keep a browser on one or more of these machines offline, too? In other words, is there a way to make a machine on this LAN invisible to the Internet?
A2: See A1