Windows XP has built–in support for the Point–to–Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE). This allows a computer running Windows XP to connect to any Internet service provider whose access equipment supports PPPoE for broadband Internet connections, which includes both cable modem and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies. Configuring Windows XP for a PPPoE connection is as simple as creating a new connection using the New Connection Wizard. Internet service providers that support industry–standard PPPoE server functionality will work with the PPPoE client supplied in Windows XP.
Internet service providers (ISPs) that use broadband Internet access technologies deployed in a bridged Ethernet topology, such as cable modem or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), need a way to distinguish individual users so that Internet usage can be accounted for, and, if appropriate, billed to individual users. Because Ethernet is inherently a shared access technology, it provides no such facilities. By combining the Point–to–Point Protocol (PPP) with Ethernet, an ISP can use Ethernet topologies and still maintain the individuality of user access as if they were using a dial–up modem. The type of access and choice of service are managed on a per–user basis, rather than a per–site or per–access device basis. The combination of PPP and Ethernet is known as Point–to–Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE) and is defined in the Internet Engineering Task Force RFC 2516.

Stop Password Expiration

After you have run Windows XP for a while, you may receive this message when you log on: "Your password will expire in 14 days".
By default, Windows XP is set up with passwords which will expire after 42 days. 14 days in advance, Windows will start warning you of this fact. If you do not want your passwords to expire:

1.Go to Start > Run and in the Open: box type control userpasswords2
2.Select the Advanced tab in the User Accounts window
3.Press the Advanced button below the Advanced user management header
4.Select Users in the Local Users and Groups
5.In the right pane, right-click the user name for which you want to change the setting, and select Properties
6.On the General tab, check Password never expires
7.Click Apply and OK (all the way out)

The Internet Connection Firewall Can Prevent Browsing and File Sharing (Q298804)

When you enable the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) feature, and then attempt to browse the Internet by means of My Network Places , you are unsucessful. Also, if you use the net view \\ computername command, you can receive the following error message:
System error 6118 has occurred. The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available.
This behavior can occur because the ICF closes, by default, the ports for file sharing. The Master Browser attempts to reconnect to the client computer to send the Browse list, but the firewall prevents this reconnection attempt.