Getting Your Network Information Together
As part of the installation procedure, you are asked details about your network connection (assuming you're going to run the computer in question on a local area network; if it's not, just skip over this part).
You must supply the following information:
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Is the computer going to join a domain or a workgroup? You can answer Workgroup if you don't know and later change to a domain. Ask someone who knows. If you select the Domain option, you'll have to ask your network administrator to create a new computer account to allow you to join that domain or to edit your existing account to reflect the new computer name.
→ To learn more information about networking settings, see "Setting Your Computer Identification," p. 531, and "Adding Network Clients, Services, and Protocols," p. 523.
NOTE
A computer account is a specific type of account that a Windows NT, Windows 2000 Server, or .NET Server administrator makes to allow a given computer to join the domain. In a domain, both computers and users have accounts on the server. A domain client is a system that is a member of a centrally controlled and secured network environment.
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Are you already part of a network? If so, collect the following information, scribble it down on a piece of paper, and keep the paper handy:
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Name of your computer
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Name of the workgroup or domain
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IP address (if your network doesn't have a DHCP server)
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