This short guide shows you how to configure your computer running Windows XP with a static IP address.  Webservers typically require static a IP address.

Start --> Settings --> Network Connections

 

Right-click on the network connection and select "Properties".

 

You'll see something like this:

 

Scroll down and select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)".

Click on the "Properties" button.

By default, the settings are set to automatically obtain an IP address and DNS servers.

 

Since we want to assign our own IP addresses, we need to click the radio button "Use the following IP address" and then enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.  Then we need to click on the radio button "Use the following DNS server addresses" and then enter the IP address of the primary and secondary DNS servers.

Make sure that the data you enter matches the rest of your network.  You cannot arbitrarily assign IP numbers here.  The numbers you use will depend on your network.  If you have a router on your network with a DHCP server, you should enter the numbers here as the DHCP server would assign them to you, except for the IP address which you specify.

In the example below, I'm assigning this computer with a fairly typical local area network IP address in the 192.168.1.xxx range.  Make sure the IP address you assign is not already being used on the network by another computer.

 

Click "OK" and then close all the dialog boxes.

There you go, your computer now has a static IP address.
 

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