The Network and Sharing Center is the first place to start diagnosing a network problem because it can quickly take you to Windows network troubleshooters, status displays, and network settings. It can also display a network map that shows whether your computer can communicate with any other computers on your LAN using the Windows file and printer sharing client services. If at least one other computer is visible and online, you can be pretty sure that your computer's network card and cabling are okay.

There are several ways to bring up the Network and Sharing Center:

• Click the small network icon located in the right corner of the taskbar near the time of day. At the bottom of the pop-up, click Open Network and Sharing Center.
• Click Start, Control Panel, View Network Status and Tasks (under Network and Internet).
• Click Start, Computer. At the bottom left, click Network. Then, at the top click Network and Sharing Center.

Under View Your Active Networks, Windows displays information about any active network and/or direct Internet connections.

This window leads to several other useful tools:

• To see whether various networking features are turned on or off, click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.
• To let Windows try to diagnose your network problem, click Troubleshoot Problems. Then select a troubleshooter for the particular problem you're having.
• To check or modify the settings for one of your network adapters, click Change Adapter Settings.
• To check or change your homegroup settings, click Choose Homegroup and Sharing Options.
• To see if your computer can find other computers on your network, click See Full Map. If you're having problems with file and printer sharing, the first thing to check is the Network Map. It shows other computers your computer knows about. The actual connections may or may not be shown.

The areas that you can manage with the Network and Sharing Center are:

• Network Map
• Active Network details
• Change your networking settings