Networking Virtual PC to Host Machine

[Withies]

I hope I'm in the right forum but I couldn't see anywhere else to put this problem as there isn't a forum for networking. I don't think it's an operating system problem and it certainly isn't a hardware problem.

I am new to networking and have been trying to network my PC (the host machine) running Windows XP Home Edition to Microsoft’s Virtual PC running Windows 98SE so that I a can access the internet from Virtual PC via the host, and share printers and files. I know that Virtual PC is not supported by Microsoft when running under XP Home Edition - only Professional – but I have not encountered any problems in loading Windows 98SE on Virtual PC and running legacy software which will not run under XP.

Having read all the documentation on networking the host machine to Virtual PC it would appear that I have to use Microsoft Loopback Adapter. I have set this up on the host machine and it appears as Local Network Connection 3. (The other two are Tiscali (my ISP provider) and Local Area Connection (10/100 Ethernet) which I am not using at the moment.) I have also set Adapter 1 on Virtual PC to Loopback Adapter using the Settings option on the Virtual PC console.

The problem is establishing the link between the PC and Virtual PC! According to the Virtual PC help file on configuring a network connection for the Loopback Adapter it is necessary to set the IP address on the host machine by:
“On the General tab, click Use the following IP address, and then type the IP address and subnet mask (such as 192.168.1.1 and 255.255.255.0)”
This is followed by the notes:
“You can use any TCP/IP address, but it is best to choose one from a reserved range of non-routable TCP/IP addresses.
“For example, TCP/IP addresses of the form 192.168.x.y, where x is a value between 0 and 255 and y is a value between 1 and 254, are non-routable. The value you choose for x must be the same on the host operating system and each guest operating system that is to be part of this virtual network. If your primary Ethernet connection uses one of these non-routable addresses, you must choose a different value for x to assign to Microsoft Loopback Adapter.”

This was easy for the host machine but when I looked at the list of network adapters in Windows 98SE on Virtual PC, Loopback Adapter was not on the list. The following are listed:
1 Client for Microsoft Networks
2 Dial-Up Adapter
3 Intel 21140 based 10/100 mpbs Ethernet Controller
4 Microsoft Virtual Private Network Adapter
5 TCP/IP -> Dial-Up Adapter
6 TCP/IP -> Intel 21140 based 10/100 mpbs Ethernet Controller
7 File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Networks
When I looked at the list of adapters available for installation Microsoft’s Loopback was not listed. Of those installed only 5 and 6 offer the option of entering a TCP/IP address. I did this with the TCP/IP -> Dial-Up Adapter as this seemed the obvious one but this didn’t establish a network.

I see there are fields to enter DNS server addresses but these are not mentioned in the help file on networking and as I don’t know what they mean I’ve left them blank.

Any help would be appreciated.