Please help a Linux newbie!

[Klaus Domes]

Hi,


May I indulge the lists patience?


I am a total Linux newbie! 

Let me mention at the outset, I am running four P4-machines on a home
office LAN. 


About three weeks ago an article was published in the technologies
section of a local newspaper extolling the virtues of Linux. It
mentioned the possibility of having a look-see at Linus by using a
“Live-CD”. Since I just had another “run-in” with windows I decided to
give it a check.

After downloading several Live-CD distros ( Ubuntu, Beatrix, Mandrake,
etc) and looking at each of them, I decided on Ubuntu, which I finally
downloaded and installed on the machine doing all of my email/Internet
work as OS. All other units are still using MS Windows XP at the time.


I am impressed! To put it mildly! 
I only run into one problem I can't resolve due to my inexperience. I
can't reach anylonger across the LAN to fetch files (.doc, .jpg) from
the other XP-OS machines or my laptop which is also running XP.


Whenever I try to “Enable Windows networking” in Computer->Network
Settings->General, I get a message saying “SMB support not running” and
the request “to install SMB support in the system to enable file sharing
in Windows networks”.


I am glue-less! What am I to do? BTW I have “Warty” installed.

Could some kind soul maybe take a minute to write me down a step by step
on how to proceed? I know it is probably a basic problem and must have
been answered before. Unfortunately, after unsuccessfully searching for
several days through all sorts of lists and web sites I'm getting a
little bit discouraged.


I don't want to revert back to MS! Anyone willing to lend me a helping
hand can contact me off list at semod at vif.com .


Thank you very much,

Klaus Domes

Montreal, Canada