Windows XP Dialup Networking Setup

Follow these instructions to set up a Windows XP computer for dialup access to the internet with ACD.net. These instructions will work for either Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional Edition.

1. Click on Start and click on Control Panel in the right column (note: if your Start menu only has one column click on Start => Settings => Control Panel).
2. If your Control Panel is in Category view (it will say Pick a Category if it is), then click on Network and Internet Connections. Otherwise, proceed to step 3.
   
3. Click on the Internet Options icon.
   
4. In the Internet Properties, click on the Connections tab.
   
   
   
   If there are any connections listed in this window that you no longer have or use, you can click on them with your mouse so they're highlighted, then click the Remove button on the right. You will be asked to confirm this deletion
   
5. To start the connection wizard, click the Setup button in the top-right area of the window. The New Connection Wizard will start.
   
   
6. Click the Next button to continue the wizard.
   
   
   
7. Connect to the Internet should already be selected. If it is not, click the button to select it. Click Next.
   
   
   
8. Select the option for Set up my connection manually and click Next. This will launch the Internet Connection Wizard.
   
   
   
9. Connect using a dial-up modem should already be selected, so click Next. If it is not click the button to select it then click Next. **NOTE** On some machines this option (and possibly the one below it) are grayed out, so you cannot select them. This means one of two things: either you are not logged into the computer with administrative rights, or there is a problem with your computer. There is a known problem in some installations of Windows XP that can cause this to happen (see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320558 for more information about it). It is recommended that if you are experiencing this problem you contact your computer vendor.
   
   
   
10. You will be asked to name the connection. Enter ACD.net (it does not matter if it is upper-case or lower-case) and click Next.
    
    
    
11. Enter the dialup access number your computer will dial in order to get online. This page is NOT asking for your phone number. For a complete list of ACD.net's dialup access numbers visit http://www.acd.net/numbers.htm. Once you have located an access number and entered it, click Next. **NOTE** ACD.net is not responsible for long distance charges incurred by the customer. Due to continuously changing local calling areas and increasing numbers of local phone carriers, it is the customer's responsibility to verify with their local phone carrier whether or not a given number will be a local call for them.
    
    
    
12. Enter your dialup username and password. Please note that this information is case-sensitive, so if you instructed ACD.net to use all upper-case letters or all lower-case letters, or a combination of the two, you must enter your information exactly the same way. The username generally doesn't matter, however it is advised for most people to enter it in lower-case as passwords are often in lower-case and since you can't see what you're typing when you type the password, typing the username in lower-case ensures that you are in fact typing everything in lower-case. Once this information is entered, click Next. Windows XP computers without Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed will have another box checked on this screen regarding enabling the Internet firewall on the connection. Unless you have a very good reason otherwise, leave that box checked.
    
    
    
    
13. The wizard is complete. If you would like a shortcut to this connection placed on your desktop, check the box. Otherwise click Finish.
14. You will now be placed back at the desktop. If you would like Internet Explorer to prompt you to connect to ACD.net automatically when you open it, repeat steps 1 through 4 to get back to the Connections tab in the Internet Properties.
    
    
    
    
15. As you can see, Never dial a connection is selected by default. With this option selected, Internet Explorer will assume that you will establish the connection on your own, or that a connection is always present (such as a DSL or cable internet connection). Select either Dial whenever a network connection is not present or Always dial my default connection. This will tell Internet Explorer that if it cannot find your home page when it opens to dial the connection marked as Default (which--if you followed the above steps--will be the ACD.net connection). Once you've set this setting, click OK.