inet and file sharing - Win XP pro

[Guest]

I have 2 pc's running Win XP pro with a direct connection (CAT5 cross-over
cable). I setup the sharing 'server' and it's internet connection is a
wireless LAN card which works fine for browsing on the 'server' pc. I setup
the LAN to the 'client' pc and did a bridge on the 'server' pc. This setup
works for browsing the web - sometimes. I often times (about every 5 minutes
give or take), while browsing on the 'client' machine have to 'repair' the
network bridge that I don't even see why I need on the 'client' machine.
Also, I was trying to setup file & print sharing on the 'server' pc, but it
doesn't seem to want to work with the 'server' pc's bridge running - or
something. I'm pretty lost. I've worked as a network admin in the past, but
it was running a Windows NT 4.0 network when that was the most recent version
of NT. Does anybody have a fix for my 'client' pc losing it's internet
connection and for my file & print woes? or do I need to post more info? TIA

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have 2 pc's running Win XP pro with a direct connection (CAT5 cross-over
cable). I setup the sharing 'server' and it's internet connection is a
wireless LAN card which works fine for browsing on the 'server' pc. I setup
the LAN to the 'client' pc and did a bridge on the 'server' pc. This setup
works for browsing the web - sometimes. I often times (about every 5 minutes
give or take), while browsing on the 'client' machine have to 'repair' the
network bridge that I don't even see why I need on the 'client' machine.
Also, I was trying to setup file & print sharing on the 'server' pc, but it
doesn't seem to want to work with the 'server' pc's bridge running - or
something. I'm pretty lost. I've worked as a network admin in the past, but
it was running a Windows NT 4.0 network when that was the most recent version
of NT. Does anybody have a fix for my 'client' pc losing it's internet
connection and for my file & print woes? or do I need to post more info? TIA

Is there a network bridge in the Network Connections folder on the
'client' machine? If so, right-click and delete it. The 'client'
doesn't need to bridge its network connections.

The network bridge on the 'server' machine combines its wired and
wireless network connections into a single network to give Internet
access to the 'client' machine. If that doesn't work reliably (and
the network bridge is known not to work well with some network
adapters), then:

1. Right-click and delete the network bridge on the 'server' computer.

2. Enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on the 'server' computer's
wireless LAN card. It will use the wired LAN card for the home
network connection.

3. Configure the 'client' machine as an ICS client.

XP's Network Setup Wizard can do all the work to set up each computer.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

I killed the 'client' pc's bridge. I still am showing a 'LAN' connection as
well as a '1394 Connection' I'm not sure, but I am guess the '1394' is the
old connection that I had when I was swapping the wireless LAN card from one
pc to the other. Am I correct in this? Could this be causing the
intermetent problems I am still having (though not as frequently)?

Also, still trying to get F&P sharing to work. I modified my 'network ID'
and it is requiring a reboot, so it may work after sending this. However,
the 2 pc's were already using the same 'workgroup' name, so I'm not very
confident that this re-boot will fix the prob. Any ideas where to start
troubleshooting?

 

[Guest]

I'm getting the following error, when trying to browse the 'Entire Network'
then 'Microsoft Windows Network'

xxxwrkgrp is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource. Contact admin of this server to find out if you have
access permissions. The network path was not found.

I should at the very least, be able to browse to my own pc through network
neighborhood

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I killed the 'client' pc's bridge. I still am showing a 'LAN' connection as
well as a '1394 Connection' I'm not sure, but I am guess the '1394' is the
old connection that I had when I was swapping the wireless LAN card from one
pc to the other. Am I correct in this? Could this be causing the
intermetent problems I am still having (though not as frequently)?

The '1394 Connection' is the 'client' computer's IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
connection. Since you're not using it for networking, right-click and
disable it.

Also, still trying to get F&P sharing to work. I modified my 'network ID'
and it is requiring a reboot, so it may work after sending this. However,
the 2 pc's were already using the same 'workgroup' name, so I'm not very
confident that this re-boot will fix the prob. Any ideas where to start
troubleshooting?

Your computer is part of a workgroup, not a domain, so there's no need
to click 'Network ID' or run the Network Identification Wizard. Using
the same workgroup name on both computers is fine.

Did you run the Network Setup Wizard on both computers as I suggested,
setting up the 'sever' computer to share its Internet connection and
setting up the 'client' computer to access the Internet through the
'server'?
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I'm getting the following error, when trying to browse the 'Entire Network'
then 'Microsoft Windows Network'

xxxwrkgrp is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this
network resource. Contact admin of this server to find out if you have
access permissions. The network path was not found.

I should at the very least, be able to browse to my own pc through network
neighborhood

It can take 15 minutes or more after a computer starts before network
browsing works. To access a computer before that, type its name in
the Start | Run box in this format:

\\computer

If that fails, make sure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled:

1. Open the Network Connections folder.
2. Right click the local area network connection and click Properties.
3. Double click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click WINS.
6. Click the Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP button.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

I think there is just one last thing. I have the file sharing working - sort
of. The client pc is sharing with the server and the server pc is showing
it's shares, but still not allowing permission. I am suspicious of one
setting, because I believe it is the only thing different from one pc to the
other. Does LMHost lookup have to be on or off?

Actually, I just found that I had turned of IEEE Authentication in one of my
previous attempts at troubleshooting this thing. Okay, now I'm really
confused. I turned authentication back on, and tried, then I disabled
'verify certificate'. Am I getting close? It doesn't seem to matter which
option I had chosen for authentication. My client pc is still sharing files,
the other server is still showing all its shares by not giving permission to
access.

 

[Guest]

For some strange reason I couldn't get ICS to work properly. At first, I was
selecting the wireless network and enabling ICS, then I selected the LAN
connection and it warned me it was gonig to switch ICS from the wireless card
to the NIC - which I figured it meant I was trying to inable sharing of the
internet to anybody that connects to the wireless device, which is pointless
since the only conenction the wireless device makes is to the internet. So I
switched the ICS. After playing with some of the options, and finally being
able to ping my server pc by name, I decided my efforts on ICS were futile
and switched back to bridging the connection. I had completely lost my
internet on the client pc until I switched back to a bridged setup.

I'm still seeing my client shared folders, but nothing in the network places
about my server except its name. The server pc can't even connect to itself
through the network places (still). Could this be because of the version of
Win XP Pro (SP's and patches, etc) that my server is running? I haven't done
any of the updates on the server pc since I've had a firewall running & virus
scanner ever since I formatted & installed Win on the machine. The client pc
I use for my school work (DeVry programming stuff), so I have kept it as up
to date as possible (XP SP2 needs 2GB of HD space and I just don't have it,
but I've kept all the patches current).

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

For some strange reason I couldn't get ICS to work properly. At first, I was
selecting the wireless network and enabling ICS, then I selected the LAN
connection and it warned me it was gonig to switch ICS from the wireless card
to the NIC - which I figured it meant I was trying to inable sharing of the
internet to anybody that connects to the wireless device, which is pointless
since the only conenction the wireless device makes is to the internet. So I
switched the ICS. After playing with some of the options, and finally being
able to ping my server pc by name, I decided my efforts on ICS were futile
and switched back to bridging the connection. I had completely lost my
internet on the client pc until I switched back to a bridged setup.

I'm still seeing my client shared folders, but nothing in the network places
about my server except its name. The server pc can't even connect to itself
through the network places (still). Could this be because of the version of
Win XP Pro (SP's and patches, etc) that my server is running? I haven't done
any of the updates on the server pc since I've had a firewall running & virus
scanner ever since I formatted & installed Win on the machine. The client pc
I use for my school work (DeVry programming stuff), so I have kept it as up
to date as possible (XP SP2 needs 2GB of HD space and I just don't have it,
but I've kept all the patches current).

Since your wireless connection is the one that has Internet access,
enable ICS on the wireless connection. That will use the wired
connection as the home network connection to give Internet access to
the client.

A computer should be able to see itself in My Network Places. Try
clicking "Add a network place" on the server and manually creating a
link to one of its shared disks or folders.

Make 100% sure that any firewall program is configured to allow access
by computers on the local area network.

Right-click the server's LAN connection, click Properties, and make
sure that the boxes for "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft
Networks" and "Client for Microsoft Networks" are checked.

Make sure that the Server service is running:

1. Right click My Computer, and click Manage.
2. Double click Services and Applications.
3. Double click Services.
4. Double click Server. If the Service status is Stopped, click
Start.
5. Set the Startup type to Automatic.

If those steps don't solve the problem, see if there are any relevant
messages in Event Viewer. To run it, click Start | Control Panel |
Performance and Maintenance | Administrative Tools | Event Viewer.
For more information, see:

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308427
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

For some strange reason, I lost the 'client' pc's shared folders listing in
My Network Places, but when I installed NetBIOS and IPX/SPX the listings came
back. I hope this doesn't cause too much network traffic - there is only 2
pc's on this LAN. I also added NetBIOS & IPX/SPX to the 'server' machine
which seemed to cause prob's with the internet connection before, so I
dropped the bridge and enabled ICS. I also double checked the firewall and
sure enough it was causing all sorts of prob's. So everything is running
smoothly now and I haven't seen a dropped connection on my client pc yet -
and both pc's are seeing each others file shares.

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

For some strange reason, I lost the 'client' pc's shared folders listing in
My Network Places, but when I installed NetBIOS and IPX/SPX the listings came
back. I hope this doesn't cause too much network traffic - there is only 2
pc's on this LAN. I also added NetBIOS & IPX/SPX to the 'server' machine
which seemed to cause prob's with the internet connection before, so I
dropped the bridge and enabled ICS. I also double checked the firewall and
sure enough it was causing all sorts of prob's. So everything is running
smoothly now and I haven't seen a dropped connection on my client pc yet -
and both pc's are seeing each others file shares.

If a network only works after adding IPX/SPX, something is wrong with
the TCP/IP configuration on one or more computers. The most likely
problem is that a firewall is blocking access using TCP/IP. Firewalls
don't affect IPX/SPX.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com