Loopback Adapter file share tunneling: XP, 2003

The following instructions document how the Microsoft Loopback Adapter can be installed and configured for use with file share tunneling on Windows XP and 2003:

1. Installing the Loopback Adapter:
   1. Open Start, Control Panel, Add Hardware.
   2. Click Next on the introduction dialog box.
   3. Select ‘Yes, I have already connected the hardware’ and click Next.
   4. Scroll to the bottom of the list of hardware, select ‘Add a new hardware device’, then click Next.
   5. Select ‘Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced)’, then click Next.
   6. Select ‘Network adapters’, then click Next.
   7. Select ‘Microsoft’ as the manufacturer, select ‘Microsoft Loopback Adapter’ as the adapter, then click Next.
   8. Click Next to confim the installation.
   9. Click Finish to complete the installation.
2. Configure the newly created adapter:
   1. Open Start, Control Panel, Network Connections.
   2. Select the newly created connection (should be named ‘Local Area Connection N’, where N is its order number).
   3. Right click on the selected connection and choose Properties from the menu.
   4. Confirm that ‘Microsoft Loopback Adapter’ (or ‘Microsoft Loopback Adapter #N’) is displayed in the ‘Connect Using:’ field. If it isn’t, return to step 2 and retry properties for another adapter.
   5. Uncheck (disable) everything except ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)’.
   6. Select ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)’, then click Properties to open ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties’.
   7. Select ‘Use the following IP address:’ and fill in the ‘IP address:’ and ‘Subnet mask:’ fields (e.g. 10.10.10.10, 255.255.255.0).
   8. Click Advanced to open ‘Advanced TCP/IP Settings’.
   9. Switch to WINS and select ‘Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP’.
   10. Click OK to close ‘Advanced TCP/IP Settings’.
   11. Click OK to close the ‘Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties’.
   12. Optionally (on XP only) uncheck (disable) ‘Notify me when this connection has limited or no conectivity’ to remove the connection warning icon from the system notification area.
   13. Click OK to close the connection properties.

If you later want to uninstall the Microsoft Loopback Adapter (once it is not needed any more for the forwarding of a Windows file share), you can uninstall it using Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager.