22nd October 2001
Getting your machine connected to a network (or the Internet) can be a chore. Windows XP has improved the task tenfold, as roamers will tell you. They have to connect to different networks throughout the day. At work, it's one environment. At home, most likely, is another. And on the road? Well, you can see how this can quickly become a source of frustration. Windows XP will reconfigure your network settings on-the-fly, but what if you don't have (or want) Windows XP? Then set up a different profile for each location. You've probably seen this feature before, but never really thought of using it. Configure your machine for one type of network, then save its profile by tapping WINKEY+Pause and flipping to the Hardware or Hardware Profiles tab. Go ahead and save the profile. Call it "Work Configuration" (or something along those lines) if you're setting it up for when you're on the job. Follow the same steps for other locations, and when you reboot, you'll be faced with a range of profiles - each configured for that particular network. Depending on where you're booting from, select the appropriate profile.