Windows Vista in a Nutshell: Networking

Computerworld -

The following article is excerpted from Windows Vista In A Nutshell with permission of O'Reilly Media Inc.

Windows Vista includes many tools, screens and features for setting up, connecting to, managing and configuring networks. This section covers all of Windows Vista's features for doing that, and it includes basic information for setting up and connecting to networks and network connections.

Change Workgroup or Domain

Change the workgroup or domain to which a PC is attached.

To open

Control Panel → [System and Maintenance] → System → Change Settings → Computer Name tab

Description

The Networking and Internet Control Panel and the Network and Sharing Center both have one surprising shortcoming: They do not offer a way to change the workgroup or domain to which your PC is currently attached or to easily connect to a new domain or workgroup. So you may think that there is no way to perform both tasks.

In fact, though, they're both easy to do, as long as you know where to look. And you'll have to look in a surprising place—on the Computer Name tab of the System Properties dialog box (Figure 7-8). You can also reach it via Control Panel → [Network and Internet] → Network and Sharing Center → Network Discovery → Change Settings.

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Click Network ID to launch a wizard that will allow you to join an existing domain or workgroup. Click Change and the dialog box shown in Figure 7-9 appears. Select either Domain or Workgroup, and enter the name of the domain or workgroup to switch to a new one.

Connect to a Network

Connect to a network or the Internet.

To open

Click the network icon in the System Tray → Connect or disconnect

Control Panel → [Network and Internet] → Connect to a network

Control Panel → [Network and Internet] → Network and Sharing Center → Connect to a network

Description

Once you've set up a network connection (see "Set Up a Connection or Network" later in this chapter), use the "Connect to a network" screen (Figure 7-10) to connect to any network—wired, wireless, VPN or dial-up.

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Connecting is straightforward: Double-click the network to which you want to connect, or highlight it and click Connect. When you're connected to a network, disconnect from it by clicking Disconnect.

This screen is primarily designed for wireless, dial-up and VPN connections. If your only connection to a network is via an Ethernet cable, you won't even get to the screen shown in Figure 7-10 when you choose to connect. Instead, you'll be told that you're already connected to the network. Want to disconnect? There's a simple, physical solution for you -- unplug your Ethernet cable.