Where's My Network??

This may be the wrong place to post this question, but I get quick replies here so here goes:

I seem to have forgotten how to start up a network in Windows.

I have three other Windows computers in the house, they are all in the MSHome Network, but they are not showing up in "My Network Places" in Parallels/WindowsXP here on the Mac.

When I click "view network comuters," the MacBook is the only one that shows up. It has been quite a while since I've tried to add a computer to the network (or to find the network from a new computer) so I don't remember how that was done.

I'm also not sure from looking at the manual if there might be some special consideration for getting the network running from Parallels/Windows (as opposed to a conventional Windows setup)

Can somebody refresh my memory how this is done?

Thanks,

--PS

 

Is your macbook connected to your MSHome Network?

Kat

 

Are you asking if I can see the computers on the MSHome Network from the Mac Desktop, i.e. Go.. Network in the main Mac menu? The answer to that is yes, I can find the network that way, but not when I am in Parallells/Windows.

So the computer is on the Network, I just don't remember how to get Windows hooked in.

--PS

 

Start menu...control panel ....network & internet connections... Set up or change your home or small office networ or network setup wizard..follow the promps from this point. you should also read parallels user manual about shared networking.

 

Tried that... sorta...

I've already tried the routine you suggest, dragonkat... but maybe I stopped to soon when I got to the last window in the Wizard, the one that says I need to run "Network Setup Wizard" on all the other computers in the network.... and then asks if I want to create a Network Setup Disk, which I would do except none of my computers have floppy drives any more...

I'm of the opinion that at that point, I can just finish the wizard, that I don't need to run the wizard on other computers because they are already on the network. So I just click "finish." But then... still no computers on the network.

So, what's a poor boy to do?

Thanks,

--PS

 

You should read this about networking

Shared Networking (NAT)
By default, virtual machines created during Express or Typical OS installation use Shared Networking (NAT) mode for network connections. In this mode your virtual machine can access the Internet while being invisible to other computers on the network (except your Macintosh computer). This mode is recommended because it doesn't require any additional configuring. Your virtual machine will share whatever network connection your computer uses at the moment.
This mode is preferred in the following cases:
your computer accesses the Internet via a modem or another non-Ethernet device,
as a mobile user, you access the Internet from Internet cafes, hotel rooms and on flights,
you want to access the Internet in a virtual machine but you are concerned about security,
you have problems with Bridged Ethernet mode.
Parallels NAT adapter installed along with Parallels Desktop provides Shared networking support in Mac OS X. IP addresses for the virtual machines are provided by Parallels DHCP server connected to the Parallels NAT adapter.
Configuring Shared Networking for a Virtual Machine
Open Configuration Editor for the virtual machine and on the Network Adapter Options (page 175) tab select the Shared networking option.
If you want your virtual machine to have an IP address from the specific range, then:
Choose Preferences from Parallels Desktop menu. On the Network (page 209) tab, specify a range of IP addresses to be assigned to the virtual machines and your primary OS in the Enable DHCP Scope for Shared Networking group.
Note that this scope of addresses must be different from the scopes of all other networks your Macintosh computer has access to.
Bridged Ethernet Networking
If your virtual machine uses the Bridged Ethernet type of connection to the network, virtual machine appears on the network as a stand-alone computer with its own IP address and network name.
To configure your virtual machine to use Bridged Ethernet mode:
1 Open Configuration Editor for the virtual machine and on the Network Adapter Options (page 175) tab select the Bridged Ethernet mode in the Emulation group
2 Choose the proper network adapter from the list. The Default Adapter option is recommended. It connects to the built-in Ethernet or AirPort of your Macintosh computer whichever is currently active.
3 Configure network options in the guest operating system.
154 Parallels Desktop for Mac User Guide
Note. If your Macintosh computer uses AirPort with WEP Enterprise, it may be impossible for the virtual machine to get its own IP-address. Use other type of network connection.
If you encounter problems when using Bridged Ethernet mode or have special security concerns, consider Host-Only Networking.
Host-Only Networking
Parallels Desktop provides a closed network accessible only to Mac OS X and virtual machines running on it. The Mac OS X is connected to this network via the Parallels Host-Guest adapter installed along with Parallels Desktop.
IP addresses for machines in a host-only network are provided by Parallels DHCP server connected to Parallels Host-Guest adapter. DHCP server is started automatically whenever you launch Parallels Desktop.
Configuring Host-only Networking
Open Configuration Editor for the virtual machine and on the Network Adapter Options (page 175) tab select the Host-only networking option.
If you want your virtual machine to have the IP address from the specific range, then:
Choose Preferences from the Parallels Desktop menu. In the Network (page 209) tab, specify a range of IP addresses to be assigned to the virtual machines and Mac OS X in the DHCP Scope for Host-only Networking group.
Note. This scope of addresses must be different from scopes of all other networks your Macintosh computer has access to.

 

OK, I finally had some time this morning to spend with the "Networking a Virtual Machine" section of the manual that you pasted in here for me (actually went to the printed manual!) and decided that what I needed was not "Shared Networking" but "Bridged Networking." So I changed that in the configuration settings, along with designating the Mac "Airport" as the network adapter and... presto, all my other computers showed up in "My Network Places."

Might be that all I needed to do was designate the Airport adapter, but... it works, so I'm leaving it that way.

Thanks,

--PS

 

One Step Forward, One Step Back

So, now where did my network go?

Last week I switched my networking configuration to "Bridge" and all the machines on my Windows network showed up in my Parallels XP desktop.

This afternoon I went to see "My Network Places," and the network showed up... but only for an instant. Then it all vanished, and now I can't get the other computers to show up again.

Since switching to "bridge" instead of "shared" corrected the problem last time, I tried doing it again: stopped VM, reconfigured to "shared," restarted, stopped again, reconfigured back to "bridge," restarted... still no sign of my other computers.

I should also note that when I had it all connected a couple of days ago, I dragged a shortcut to one of my machines onto the XP desktop. Even though I can't get anything to show up under "My Network Places," I can get to one of the other machines through that shortcut.

I also tried turning off Windows Firewall in the VM, that didn't work either. No firewall on the other machines.

Yeah, this is why I wanted a Mac... so I could stop having problems with Windows. Right.

It's always f'ing Windows...

--PS

 

I don't think the problem is windows. I have the same problem, and I think it is because your home network uses 'private IP' addresses, typically in the range 192.168.?.?. I haven't found any documentation on Parallels networking architecture, but from the user instructions, it appears that Parallels provides a router to the network the Mac is on, and that router provides windows with a new address range, unrelated to 192.168.?.?. Here is the problem: 192. addresses are UNROUTEABLE. so if you want to reach another node on your home network from windows guest OS, your guest Windows has to send an address in this unrouteable range, and it doesn't get routed by the Parallels router. you are screwed. It seems like what is needed is a mode where Parallels is just another OS X app and shares the OSX's network address via the same port mapping process that other OSX apps use. ideas, anyone?

 

PS. there is a solution. first, one has to ignore the Parallels documentation regarding 'host-only', to wit:

"Parallels Desktop provides a closed network accessible only to Mac OS X and virtual machines running on it. The Mac OS X is connected to this network via the Parallels Host-Guest adapter installed along with Parallels Desktop. IP addresses for machines in a host-only network are provided by Parallels DHCP server connected to Parallels Host-Guest adapter."

This statement simply isn't true. I switched to host-only, selected 'en0' instead of 'default' adaptor (I would love to know why this second step is needed, but this scheme doesn't work without it) and now Vista guest OS has an IP address from the same (wired) local network DHCP service that provided OSX with its address (in my case today this is a hotel router that doesn't charge any money, but just makes you log in for free). Now, this won't work well if you are paying for each address like in an airport lounge or a hotel that charges per IP issued, unless you are careful to only log in with your windows browser and you don't need a mac browser too, but it works fine for home networks, since Windows is on the same subnet now. The weirder thing is that, with 'shared networking', Vista's network icon said it didn't have internet access, even though it did, but with 'host only' networking, vista's network icon says 'local and internet' correctly. I think there is a good chance this will work with my home wifi system, I'll know for sure tomorrow.