Gateway 450 Benefits of networking, Sharing a single Internet connection, Sharing drives, 186

Chapter 11: Networking Your Computer

Benefits of networking

A network lets you:

■Share a single Internet connection

■Share computer drives

■Share peripheral devices

■Stream audio and video files

■Play multi-player games

Sharing a single Internet connection

Each computer that is connected to the network can share the same broadband connection or modem and telephone line and access the Internet at the same time. This saves on the cost of installing another telephone line for your second computer and paying for a second Internet service provider (ISP) account.

Help and

Support

For more information about sharing an Internet connection in Windows XP, click Start, then click Help and Support.

Type the keyword internet sharing in the HelpSpot

Search box , then click the arrow.

Sharing drives

With a network, you can copy files from computer to computer by copying and pasting or dragging and dropping. You will no longer waste your time transferring files by using diskettes. In addition, you can map a drive on a networked computer to another computer, and access the files as if they were located on the hard drive of the computer you are using.

Help and

Support

For more information about sharing network drives in Windows XP, click Start, then click Help and Support.

Type the keyword sharing network drives in the

HelpSpot Search box , then click the arrow.

186 www.gateway.com