for additional information: |
Once Windows XP is configure to accept incoming Direct Cable Connections,
you configure your Windows95/98/ME system also for Direct Cable connection
and are then ready to connect :
 | When using the standard setup to connect from Windows95/98/ME, I had a bad surprise : It did not work ! On the Windows95 system, it started to connect, but was immediately disconnected |
 | I was sure, that I had made the login to the Windows 95 systems using a username and password, as defined on the Windows XP system. Like in all such cases, always have a look in the Event Logs of Windows XP : The “System” log shows an error for RemoteAccess. : |
 | Double-click on the error to get the description : “The following error occurred in the Point to Point protocol module on port: LPT1, Username : <Unauthenticated User>. The account is disabled.” I tried the link to the Microsoft website for more information : “Sorry, no information”. |
 | In the Properties of “My Network Places”, I had a look again at the Properties of the “Incoming Connections”, tab : Users I had connected from the Windows95 system with a proper username (and password), but that seemed to be not sufficient. To be able to connect, I decided to try the option : “Always allow directly connected devices such as palmtop computers to connect without providing a password” |
 | Now, I was able to connect from my Windows 95 system. Since only TCP/IP is used (Windows XP does not support anymore NetBEUI), it will not be able to display directly the “Host” system. The system will prompt you for the name of the Host computer , i.e. the name of the Windows XP system accepting the incoming connection. (the name is defined on Windows XP in the Properties of “My Computer” ) |
If somebody got the connection to work from Windows95 without this workaround, I would appreciate if
you can drop me an email telling me how you managed that………
 | Once another system connects via Direct Cable to your Windows XP system, it will show in the properties of the “Network Places” an additional icon : The incoming connection from the Windows95 system uses now “Unauthenticated User” To get more information, right-click on the Connection and select from the pop-up menu : Status |
 | by default, an connection icon will be displayed in the taskbar, which you can call up and then select from here to display the “Status”: |
 | tab: General It will show the connection time, the amount of data exchanged. |
 | tab : Details It will show you the IP-addresses, assigned to the Windows XP system ( acting as the Server) and to the connected client. |
