Once you have chosen a network connection for your home computers, you're ready to capitalize on sharing resources over your network. You can share and swap files between your network computers, and, best of all, use your fastest printer for your entire network.

There are a few steps to take before you can start routing all your print jobs to your high-performance printer. Irrespective of the home network hardware device you have purchased, your computers must be set up for Client for Microsoft Windows, which is a piece of software designed for networks. Your Windows 98 Second Edition computer comes with this installed.

Since you have likely chosen to install Windows 98 Second Edition on the newest computer at home, you may also want to have the best printer plugged into it, though this is not a requirement to share a printer over your home network.

To set up Client for Windows on your host computer:

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Click Network.
3. On the Configuration tab, click File and Print Sharing.
4. Select the check box, I want to be able to give others access to my files and I want to be able to allow others to print to my printer.
5. Click OK.

Or you can get to the configuration tab by right-clicking Network Neighborhood from the control panel.

Set up another computer

To set up print-sharing on your other network computer(s):

1. Click Start, Settings, Printers.
2. Click Add Printer, which launches the Add Printer Wizard.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Network Printer and click Next.

To allow your computer to find the shared printer, you must specify its location. Click Browse if you are unsure, then select the designated printer.
An icon of a hand appears under a printer after it becomes shared.

Note: For networks to function, all linked computers must be identified separately. If you have not previously given your computer a name (you can call it literally anything), here's how to do so:

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel
2. Click the Network icon
3. Select the Identification tab. Enter a name in the box.
   If you choose, enter the other information (workgroup and a description of the computer, such as Pentium II) but this is not required.

More than one

You can set up more than one printer to be shared on your home network. Simply repeat the steps described above. You can also set one printer as your default printer. To specify the default printer:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
2. Right-click the icon for the printer you want to use as the default printer.
3. Click Set As Default.
   If there is a check mark next to this command, the printer is set as the default printer.

Once you're wired together in a network, everyone in the household gets to enjoy the benefits of your sharpest and fastest printer.

Gordon Black has concluded his printer at home is nearing retirement.