HOSTING W/ VISTA TRAIL MAP

[LTG_Spike]

All:

Here is the trail map that I followed to host in the lobby with Vista. Hope that it helps someone. well I could not load as an attachement so it is written below

Spike


THIS IS HOW I FINALLY GOT TO HOST A GAME IN THE LOBBY WITH WINDOWS VISTA; I WILL LIST IN ORDER THE STEPS THAT I THINK WERE CRITICAL TO THIS. FIRST I WILL TELL YOU HOW MY SYSTEM IS SETUP.

I HAVE A HOME NETWORK USING A 2 WIRE MODEM (MODEL 1700HW), I HAVE 4 COMPUTERS CONNECTED TO THE NETWORK.

1. I CREATED A STATIC IP FOR THE COMPUTER THAT USES LINKS; I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN THE FOLLOWING LINK. http://www.portforward.com/networking/staticip.htm
2. I HAD PREVIOUSLY SETUP THE PORT FORWARDING FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT WERE AVAILABLE ON THE LSPN FORUM, I WAS NOT VERY SATISFIED WITH THIS SO I DECIDED TO PURCHASE THE PFCONFIG SOFTWARE, THE SOFTWARE CONFIGURED THE PORTS IN AN INSTANT, I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS A CRITICAL STEP, BUT SINCE THE PREVIOUS SETUP THAT I HAD DONE MANUALLY ON MY ROUTER HAD NOT WORKED I DECIDED TO SPEND THE $29.95 AND GOT THE SOTWARE. THE SOFTWARE WAS PURCHASED AT THIS LINK https://portforward.com/store/pfconfig.cgi
3. THE NEXT STEP THAT I FOLLOWED WAS TO CONFIGURE LINKS TO BE ALLOWED THROUGH THE WINDOWS FIREWALL, I HAD DONE THE NORMAL CHECK OFF THE PROGRAM, BUT SINCE THAT DID NOT WORK I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THIS LINK http://www.portforward.com/english/rout ... inksIn.htm NOW THIS WAS A VERY LONG AND EXTREMELY MONOTONOUS PROCESS BUT SINCE I HAD CONFIGURED THE FIREWALL BEFORE AND IT HAD NOT WORKED, I DECIDED TO DO THIS AS WELL. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND OF THE FOLLOWING, THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN ON THIS LINK ARE FOR XP FIREWALL BUT BROWSING THROUGH THE PORT FORWARD FORUMS I FOUND THE FOLLOWING THREAD (#2 While I don't know XP or Vista. Vista's FIREWALL is close to XP’s.) AND DECIDED TO DO IT.
4. AFTER ALL THIS I DECIDED TO TRY A LAUNCH IT DID NOT WORKED, SO I STARTED READING SOME OF THE POSTINGS IN THE PORT FORWARD WEBSITE AND CAME UPON THIS THREAD THAT MAKE ME THINK THAT I MAY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM (#2 : I have windows VISTA so there is a fire wall already there...plus I have installed avira antivirus which probably has a firewall but am not sure.) NOW ALTHOUGH I DO NOT HAVE THE “AVIRA ANTIVIRUS” PROGRAM THAT THIS USER WAS REFERRING TO I DO HAVE NORTON ANTIVIRUS, AND SINCE THE SUBSCRIPTION HAD RUN OUT AND IT WAS NOT BEING USED I HAD PAID NO SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THIS PROGRAM, WELL WHEN I OPENED THE PROGRAM REST ASSURED IT DID HAD A FIREWALL ACTIVE IN THERE, TOO MUCH OF MY SURPRISE, AFTER TWEAKING WITH IT I DECIDED TO JUST SHUT OFF THE ENTIRE NORTON PROGRAM.
5. I WENT TO THE LOBBY AND FOUND ONE OF MY TEAMMATES I ASKED HIM TO HELP ME OUT ON THE TEST LAUNCH, WE PROCEEDED AND LAUNCHED THE PROGRAM, I WAITED AT THE BEGIN THE GAME SCREEN AND AFTER A FEW MINUTES NOTHING HAPPENED SO I HIT THE WINDOWS BUTTON ON THE KEYBOARD AND IT TOOK ME BACK TO THE LOBBY WITH LINKS RUNNING ON THE BACKGROUND, AFTER LEAVING LINKS I NOTICED A WARNING MESSAGE THAT THE WINDOWS FIREWALL HAD NOT ALLOWED A PORTION OF THE LINKS PROGRAM THROUGH, I DID NOT SAVE THIS, BUT WHAT I DID DO AFTER THAT WAS TO TURN OFF THE WINDOWS FIREWALL COMPLETELY
6. NOW WITH WINDOWS FIREWALL TURNED OFF, AND THE NORTON PROGRAM TURNED OFF, WE LAUNCHED AGAIN, AND IT FINALLY WENT THROUGH, WE WERE ABLE TO PLAY NINE HOLES WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS.

NOW I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS WILL WORK ON YOUR SYSTEM, AND I DO NOT KNOW IF THESE STEPS THAT I MENTIONED ABOVE ARE REALLY WHAT HELPED CORRECT THE LAUNCHING PROBLEM ON MY VISTA COMPUTER, BUT ONLY AFTER FOLLOWING THIS SEQUENCE I WAS ABLE TO HOST AFTER 4 MONTHS OF TRIALS AND ERRORS.

A WORTHY NOTE TO MENTION IS THAT LAST NIGHT I TRIED TO HOST WITH 2 OTHER PLAYERS AND I WAS NOT ABLE TO DO IT, BUT MY WIFE HAD ALREADY USED THE COMPUTER, AND I DID NOT CHECK TO SEE IF ANY OF THE SETTINGS HAD BEEN CHANGED BY HER.

I WILL TRY AGAIN TODAY AND POST THE RESULTS, IF I AM NOT ABLE TO HOST AGAIN.