Welcome to CACroll Small LANs
Microsoft Windows is an incredibly complex operating system. Making an installation of computers running Windows work, at all, is a challenge. Making one work properly is even more of a challenge. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, the problems which you may be observing today may have already been discussed, and resolved, by other folks before you. And there are many websites to give you advice, based upon those experiences.

Now, many websites offer you learned advice on various subjects; some on Windows Networking, as CACroll Small LANs does. Many websites are procedure oriented. If you know what to do, they will give you details showing you how you can use a particular wizard. But - if you don't know what to do, or how to solve a given problem, how are you going to find a solution? That's like using a dictionary - some folks think that you can learn how to spell a word, by looking it up in a dictionary.

CACroll Small LANs is organised by goal. For problem solving, it's organised by symptom. Now, it's not finished - few websites are ever actually finished. But give it a shot - it may have an answer or two for you.

If this is your first visit here, you may wish to start with the introduction, How To Get The Most Out Of CACroll Small LANs.

Having reviewed the site introduction, you may find that there are several ways to benefit from the material here.

• From my featured articles.
  
  
  
  • This week's feature is a reminder to anybody installing a computer network, that Ethernet cannot be replaced by WiFi, without compromise and planning. The total bandwidth of a WiFi LAN is limited. You have to protect your LAN from your neighbors. And noise, both analogue and digital, will further reduce your bandwidth.
    
  • Last week's feature was a pair of short advices about professional proactive techniques for ensuring that your computer, and network, are all running properly. Proactive monitoring of your computer, and of your network, can save you hours of wondering "what's up with this?" when something isn't running with its usual speediness. Learn about Finding, and Tracking, Computers On Your Network, and about Watching What Your Computer Is Doing, using free tools, each available for quick download.
    
  
  
• From the current list of known Problems and Resolutions, which present a lightweight view of the various subjects, indexed by symptom.
  
• From the various Tutorials, which present an in depth view of the various subjects, indexed by overall topic.
  
• From the individual articles, indexed by category.
  
  
  
  • Current Events.
    
  • Diagnostic Procedures and Tools.
    
  • Using The Internet Properly.
    
  • Networking / Security.
    
  • Windows Networking / File Sharing
    
  
  
• By using the Google Search Engine.
  

And check out my Links page, for extra interests of mine.

More articles are added frequently, and existing articles are revised even more frequently. Check here regularly, using a newsfeed reader for best results. And tell your friends about CACroll Small LANs!

>>Top

Common Problems and Resolutions

"Error = 5" aka "Access Denied"
"Error = 53" aka "Name Not Found"
Intermittent Connectivity Problems When Computer Is Idle
Intermittent Server Visibility Caused By The Restrictanonymous Setting
Intermittent WiFi Connectivity Problems Caused By WiFi Client Manager Conflicts
Internet Access Problems Caused By DNS Problems
Internet Connectivity Problems Caused By A Corrupt Or Hijacked Hosts File
Internet Connectivity Problems Caused By The MTU Setting
Irregularities In Access To Individual Shares On A Single Server
Irregularities In Access To Network Neighborhood (Workgroup)
Network Access Affected By Limited Or No Connectivity
Network Access Affected By LSP / Winsock / TCP/IP Corruption
Network Access Affected By NetBIOS Over TCP/IP Being Inconsistently Set
New Network Connections Wizard Functionality Damaged By System Restore
Server Access Affected By IRPStackSize
Server Access Affected By User Not Granted Requested Logon Type
Server Access Affected By Maximum Simultaneous Connections
Server Visibility Affected By The Invisibility Setting
Server Access And Visibility Affected By Personal Firewalls
Server Access and Visibility Affected By Less Known Registry Settings
Well Known, Yet Mysterious, Errors May Have Simple Resolutions

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Tutorials

Asking For Help For Internet Connectivity Problems
Asking For Help For Network Neighborhood Problems
Hacking Defined
Layered Security
Malware (Adware / Spyware)
Network Neighborhood and the Browser
Networking Your Computers
Restrict Your Privileges
Solving Network Problems
Troubleshooting Internet Connectivity
Troubleshooting Network Neighborhood (Windows Networking)
WiFi Networking
WiFi Security
Windows Networking Concepts
Windows XP File Sharing

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Current Events

August 26, 2006: Hacker sentenced to 37 months in prison
August 21, 2006: Pizza Order Credit Card Scam
August 13, 2006: August 2006 Patch Tuesday Report
August 7, 2006: Bots And You
July 6, 2006: Bump Keys - A Growing Security Problem
June 16, 2006: Patch Tuesday for June 2006
June 8, 2006: R.I.P., Windows 98, 98SE, ME, and XP SP1
June 7, 2006: Sharing The Pain
June 6, 2006: Happy Devil's Day

And more current events in PChuck's Network News, and in Today's Security Alert.

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Diagnostic Procedures and Tools

Autoruns
Browstat
CDiag
CPSServ (NOTE: Requires download of PSTools (free).
Command Windows
Event Viewer
Finding, and Tracking, Computers On Your Network
HijackThis
IPConfig
Local Security Policy Editor
My Personal Toolbox
Net Config
Network Setup Wizard
NTRights
Ping
PingPlotter
Registry Editor
Services Wizard
Static Route Table
System Restore
Watching What Your Computer Is Doing
Windows Explorer
WiFi Environment Analysis
WindowsUpdate Log Interpretation

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Using The Internet Properly

Bottom Post, Please
Download Software Selectively
Help Us To Help You
Getting Help On Usenet - And Believing What You're Told
How To Contact Me
How To Post On Usenet And Encourage Intelligent Answers
Interactive Problem Solving
Please Don't Hijack Threads
Please Don't Spread Viruses
Provide Diagnostic Data As Text, No Attachments or Images
Provide Essential Details When Asking For Help
Please Use BCC:

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Networking / Security

Ad-Aware or Spybot S&D? You Decide
Beware Of Hidden Physical Personal Firewalls
Components Definition - Networking
Design Your Network Properly
Have Laptop Will Travel?
Computer Uniqueness and Security Needs
ICS Is Not The Only Possible Solution
Make Your Wireless Computer Connect Only To Your Network
NAT Router - What Is It?
NAT Routers With UPnP - Security Risk, or Benefit?
Online System Virus Scanning Services
Pop-Ups - How To Deal With Them
Protect Yourself - Restrict Your Privileges
Protect Yourself When Using A Public Computer
Protect Yourself When Using A Public WiFi LAN
Protect Your Hardware - Use A UPS
Quick Networking With A CrossOver Cable
Setting Up Two Routers On The Same LAN
Sharing Dial-up Internet Service With A Router
Spam Spam Spam - Spam Spam Glorious Spam: Early Spam, and Modern Spam.
SSID Broadcasts
WEP Just Isn't Enough Protection Anymore
WiFi Will Never Be As Fast As Ethernet

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Windows Networking / File Sharing

Address Resolution On The LAN
Browsing and Multiple Subnets
Domain vs Workgroup? Plan Properly
Cleanup Your Protocol Stack
Components Definition - Windows Networking
Local Name and Address Resolution On Your Computer
One Use For IPX/SPX
Setting Up File Sharing Properly
Windows 9x (95/98/ME) and the Browser
Windows NT (NT/2000/XP/2003) and the Browser
Windows XP / 2000 On A Domain