Crossover Network Technical Qu.???

I am pretty certain that b4, whenever i turned one of my comps networked together with a crossover cable, WinXP on the comp that was still on would say a network cable has been disconnected and would stay that way.

I recently formatted and reinstalled on both comps and for some reason, both comps now treat the crossover cable like a hub, ie. when one comp is off, for a few moments the comp that is still on says that a network cable has been disconnected but then later says that it is connected to the network again.

Is this normal behaviour??? Im pretty sure it wasnt like this b4 but mebe i didnt notice that it would reconnect moments later. The network port on the ON computer is still lit up and is flashing yellow regularly even though the other comp is off. This appears to be how it works with a hub as the hub is powered but with the crossover, nothing is powering the CABLE, so what is making XP w/ SP1 think that it has been reconnected to the network???

 

who the hell knows lol

on my 2 comps if i connect the crossover one way they dont connect but if i switch it around they do connect.


When the comp is off and you disconnect the cable from it. does it still say its connected?

 

Yes it's normal. Even when a computer is powered off, the network adapter can still be hot. You can't ping the machine, but the NIC is hot. This allows for the computer to be "awakened" across the LAN.
You can disable this feature either through the BIOS (if integrated) or via the software that came with the NIC.
Look for an option "wake on LAN" (something like that)
Here's some info on the subject:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Wake_on_LAN.html

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

Well according to my BIOSes on both computers, Wake on Lan (Wake on Everything ) is turned off cept' for my main computer that has a keyboard password to turn it on??? Also, Ironman, yes, if i disconnect the OFF computer then the main comp says that a cable has been disconnected and will not subsequently reconnect. Also, if i disconnect the power from the OFF comp, it says that a cable has been disconnected and does not reconnect. This points at the BIOS with wake on stuff enabled, prob is its all turned off so that why i asking if its normal behaviour.

P.S, they may not actually be off cos' of weird Gigabyte BIOS that doesnt seem to wanna apply any settings unless they have been setup FROM a default bios ie. I cant seem to change things in my bios qwhenever, i have to reset it and then change it BEGINNING with the default settings WTF!!!