A slightly older method of networking two PC's is with two Microsoft utilities, interlnk and intersvr. As the name should suggest, interlnk is the client side of the program and intersvr is the server side. These require MS-DOS 6.0 or higher.
In order to set up these programs, you need to copy the interlnk file to one computer and the intersvr file to another. These files can be found on the Windows 95 CD under the path D:\Other\Oldmsdos\ (provided D is your CD-ROM).
To set up the server for interlnk, you need to do nothing.
For the client, you need to add a line to your config.sys
file such as this:
Device=C:\Interlnk.exe
This will automatically initiate the server when the computer boots. You can't run intersvr without declaring it as a device.
I have made two boot disks that automatically boot and run
interlnk and intersvr. You can download them. Because of
some minor differences in the boot files, I am not including
the system files. Make your own boot disk, then copy the
files that I have included.
Server side
Client side
After intersvr is running, run interlnk on the other computer. Interlnk scans all the ports for the connection. If your cabling and settings are correct, it will hook up.
This utility redirect drive letters on the client computer to represent the drive letters on the host computer. It also directs an LPT port.
Suppose PC#1 has drives A: C: and D: and PC#2 has drives A: C: and D:. In this example PC#1 will be the client and PC#2 will be the server. When the program is run, PC#1 will acquire three new drive letters for a result of A: C: D: E: F: and G:. Drives E-G are actually drives A-D on the server computer. The host LPT1 port shows up as LPT2 on the client.
Interlnk seems capable of redirecting only 3 drives. I had 4 drives on the host and 5 on the client. The drives A-C do not change and still refer to those on the client computer. When my PC's connected, I was unable to access more than 3 partitions on the host computer.
If you boot to Windows 95 with the interlnk connection active, then the redirected drive letters show up as removable drives to Windows. They are accessable through Windows as well, but were very slow to access for me. If the server is terminated, the drives still show up but are unaccessible.
I found these utilities fairly easy and straightforward to use. The command interlnk/? gives a few tips.
For further questions, spelling corrections, or other, mail Acclaim@geocities.com.
