Most of the solutions I've found for networking and the internet in general in WinXP on Parallels dealing with a Mac that is connected to a router, which is then connected to the modem. However, I do not have the option of a router on my Mac Mini and I cannot, for the life of me, get the Internet working in WinXP with Parallels no matter what I try while following the Networking Guide. The Mac Mini is cabled directly to the cable modem, yet I'm thinking maybe there isn't support for this? The help file is no use at all and neither is google. Can anyone offer help & troubleshooting for connecting WinXP to the internet through Parallels when the Mac is cabled directly to a modem? I have build 1848 of Parallels for Mac. I need to activate Windows soon to keep using it. Thanks!
The XP VM looks like a second computer, so you need some way for it to share your Mac's internet connection. The easiest way to do that is with a router between your Mac and the cable modem. Your Mini is perfectly capable of living with a router. I'm assuming the cable modem is connected to your Mac using an ethernet cable. The router just needs to be ethernet in and ethernet out, and will sit between your Mac and the cable modem. You can buy a cheap router that will do Network Address Translation and DHCP and so support multiple computers on your local network. Here's one example of a Netgear device for about $50, but routers are commodity items now, and there are plenty of them about, many probably cheaper than Netgear. Look for a broadband router for cable. Ignore the ones with ADSL modems built in, as they connect to telephone wires, not cable modems. Here's a guide to home networking that may help.
Host sharing why will host sharing not work for you? This will at least save you the expense and frustration of buying a router and will probably give you all the functionality you wanted anyway.
Host Only Network I believe a host only network may be what you are looking for. It is discussed, in detail, on pages 103 - 105 of the parallels users guide. This will allow you to connect to the internet without use of router and it will give you a fair amount of user functionality.
