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Chapter 4: Network Activities 35
Using Other Peripheral Devices over a Network
In addition to using most printers over a network, you can use other peripheral
devices—such as hard drives, CD drives, and Zip drives—over your network. Some
peripheral devices (such as some scanners) cannot be shared with other computers
on your network.
Before you can use a device that is attached to another computer on your network, you
will need to do the following:
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Make the device available to the network (this is also known as sharing the device).
This is configured from the computer to which the device is attached.
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Install any necessary drivers or utilities on each computer from which you want to
use the device. For more information, see the documentation that came with the
device.
About Reading E-Mail Messages on a Network
You can access your e-mail messages from each networked computer in the same way
that you would access e-mail messages without a local area network (assuming that
you have an Internet connection). Open your e-mail program or, if you have a Web-
based e-mail account, sign in to your account through your Web browser.
Keep in mind the following: If you download e-mail messages from your e-mail account
to your computer, those messages will not be accessible from the other computers on
your network. Similarly, if you share an account with another person, and he or she
downloads e-mail messages from the shared account to one computer on the network,
you will not see those messages when you access the account from another computer.
If you want your e-mail messages to remain available to all users of your network at
any time, you should not download the messages to one computer. (However, you
should delete old messages from your e-mail account on a regular basis, so that you
don’t exceed the storage space given to you by your e-mail provider.)
Playing Games on Your Network and on the Internet
Many of the most popular games now have multiplayer capability, allowing two or more
players to compete by using a local network. With network-enabled games, you can
use your networked computers to play games with friends and family members.
Most games come with documentation that explains all you need to know to configure
your network for multiplayer gaming. However, the following steps might help you
prepare for playing games over the network:
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If you have purchased a multiplayer game, be sure to install it on each computer on
the network that will be used for playing games.
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Make sure that the network protocols necessary to run the games that you want are
installed on each computer on your network. For more information, see the
documentation that came with your games.
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If you are playing an Internet-based game, you might also be required to pay user
fees or download game files to your computer. Be sure to follow the directions
provided on the game’s Web site.