Network Options--Missing Options

[Ulysses]

I went here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318030&Product=winxp

It said to go to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties. The
Properties button is not active. Therefore I cannot enable NetBIOS over
TCP/IP.

Next it says to go to My Computer and click Manage. I can't find Manage.
Therefore I cannot access Computer Browser. Windows Help says nothing about
Computer Browser.

On another page it says to go to My Computer, Tools, Folder Options and
select Use Simple File Sharing. I don't have a Use Simple File Sharing box
to check.

I'm using XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600.

Will SP2 fix my missing options?

Microsoft says to back up my computer before installing SP2. If I manage to
find MSBackup can I backup to CDRW or do I need a tape drive or something?

I read somewhere how easy it is to network with XP. Someone at MS has a
warped sense of humor.

This newsgroup is becomming my second home.

Thanks.

 

[Neo Anderson]

May be time for a session with Remote Assistant. Do you have/know anyone
you'd trust with your computer that may assist you?

 

[aaron]

If you have those options greyed out it is possible that you are logged in
with an account that does not have admin privs.

aaron

 

[Ulysses]

Do you mean online? Somebody getting into my computer?

 

[Ulysses]

I logged out and re-looged back in and it said I was logged in as
Administrator.

 

[Ken J]

Sorry my idea didn't work out, Ulysses -- using IPX for local sharing. I'm
curious about what kind of a connection you have to the Internet with which
you use Internet Connection Sharing. Dial-up or cable or DSL? I'm assuming
you aren't using a router since you're using ICS.

I had problems with my DSL modem connection for a few weeks (never tried
using ICS) -- the connection would drop and stay disconnected for a few
hours at a time, and then I put a router after the modem and now my DSL is
much more stable -- down for 1/2 hour in the past two weeks. Also I was
able to easily get Internet access to the 2nd computer through the router.
I also like the firewall on the router, although I'm using Zone Alarm on
both computers as well.

It's a pain to tear the system apart and start troubleshooting, although I
like your idea of setting a restore point to return to where you started!

Ken

 

[Ken J]

Do you mean online? Somebody getting into my computer?

Yeah, remote assistance is in System properties, Remote tab. You're sitting
right there and watching what the other person is accessing, so it's fairly
safe -- you disconnect if things get weird. Check out XP help on remote
assistance.

Ken

About Remote Assistance

Sometimes the best way to fix a problem is to have someone show you
how. Remote Assistance is a convenient way for a friend in another location
to connect to your computer from another computer running a compatible
operating system, such as Microsoft Windows XP, and walk you through your
solution.


After your friend is connected, he or she will be able to view your
computer screen and chat online with you in real time about what you both
see. With your permission, your friend can even use his or her mouse and
keyboard to work with you on your computer.


Notes

a.. Both you and your assistant must be using either Windows
Messenger or a MAPI-compliant e-mail account such as Microsoft Outlook or
Outlook Express.
b.. You and your assistant need to be connected to the Internet
while using Remote Assistance.
c.. If Windows Firewall is turned on, Remote Assistance will
temporarily open firewall ports.
d.. If you are working on a corporate or local area network,
firewalls might stop you from using Remote Assistance. In this case, check
with your network administrator before using Remote Assistance.

 

[Ulysses]

First of all I don't see how remote assistance would work if I can't get my
network to work. Something else altogether?

I read elsewhere too to try using IPX so I hope you don't feel responsible.
It was no big deal anyway.

I'm using dial-up for internet sharing at home. I've tried to get it to
work at my business with DSL but never managed to get any network functions
to work on that particular computer (Generic Pentium 4). It has two network
adaptors of course and I think maybe something isn't installed quite right.
Also I got an error message every time I ran Network Lizard. The funny
thing is the Pentium 4 has an earlier version of XP Home and I've had the
same problem not finding control pages and settings. I would follow the
directions in Help to a place that didn't exist. I'm thinking something
didn't get installed but I checked all of the Windows Components and could
not find anything missing that might have to do with networking.

Meanwhile my two laptops still network with a crossover cable or I can add
my old AMD 586 Desktop plus two other laptops by using a hub and patch
cables. I'm not sure what a router is. This is just a meager home network.
Unfortunately I got this new computer (Celeron 2.4 GB with CDRW) expecting
it to be the host computer. My daughters take a lot of digital photos and
it sure would be nice if they could access them on the new desktop. The
hard drives on the laptops are way too small to hold many pics and it's a
pain-in-the-butt to have to swap out the floppy drive with the CD Rom drive.

 

[Ken J]

First of all I don't see how remote assistance would work if I can't get
my
network to work. Something else altogether?

Right. Remote assistance works over the Internet.

I'm using dial-up for internet sharing at home. I've tried to get it to
work at my business with DSL but never managed to get any network
functions
to work on that particular computer (Generic Pentium 4). It has two
network
adaptors of course and I think maybe something isn't installed quite
right.

Get a router and try it out in the home and office situations. With a
router, you don't need two network cards in the DSL computer -- the router
serves as one network card, and then the signal is funneled to whichever
computer requested the data, which has the other network card.

Meanwhile my two laptops still network with a crossover cable or I can add
my old AMD 586 Desktop plus two other laptops by using a hub and patch
cables. I'm not sure what a router is.

A router is the same idea as a hub with a few differences. A router routes
the signal directly from one computer to the other; it switches the signal
directly to where it is supposed to go. A hub sends the signal around the
wiring path and the computer for which it is intended picks it off the wire.
Routers are fairly cheap -- $50 will get a good 4-port wired router at Radio
Shack -- $70 or so will get a 4-port wired + wireless router -- this is the
way to go for forward compatibility -- 802.11g. You see, a hub won't work
hooked to a DSL modem, but a router fills the bill, allowing you to share
the broadband connection with several computers. ICS is a kludge from the
bygone days of win98. By the way, kludge is a word from the bygone days of
the mid-90's. Kludge is a workaround but not elegant.

I read elsewhere too to try using IPX so I hope you don't feel
responsible.
It was no big deal anyway.

Don't worry, I won't feel responsible if you can't get the router going.

Ken

 

[Ulysses]

ICS is a kludge from the
bygone days of win98. By the way, kludge is a word from the bygone days of
the mid-90's.

LMAO (also probably from the 80's)

Kludge is a workaround but not elegant.

Don't worry, I won't feel responsible if you can't get the router going.

Ken

:-D

I have no idea where to find someone who could help me via Remote
Assistance. Someone suggested activating "Guest" as a possible solution. I
had not tried that one yet. My "Guest" loggeroner was disabled so maybe
that has something to do with the price of tea in China. I'm getting real
close to a format and reinstall.

 

[Chuck]

I logged out and re-looged back in and it said I was logged in as
Administrator.

I believe there are some folk who have:
1) Renamed "Administrator" to another name.
2) Created a stub "Administrator" account with no ability.

This is done to frustrate the hell out of hackers who try to brute force their
way onto your computer by using the well-known account Administrator. If you
were to do this, then forget that you've done it, this is the experience you'd
get.

Can you run Local User Manager ("lusrmgr.msc") and see what groups
"Administrator" is a member of?

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Ulysses]

It said I can't run it on this version of XP (Home) and said to go to User
Acounts in Control Panel...

User Accounts says I'm Computer Administrator. That's about all it said
about that.

"Guest" is disabled. My brain has turned into cold oatmeal. Am I supposed
to enable "Guest?"

Meanwhile, at least I managed to get the 4 wheel drive working on my old
Explorer. It may not network, but it's something positive. It was
complicated and required a lot of troubleshooting and I managed to do it.

 

[Chuck]

It said I can't run it on this version of XP (Home) and said to go to User
Acounts in Control Panel...

User Accounts says I'm Computer Administrator. That's about all it said
about that.

"Guest" is disabled. My brain has turned into cold oatmeal. Am I supposed
to enable "Guest?"

Meanwhile, at least I managed to get the 4 wheel drive working on my old
Explorer. It may not network, but it's something positive. It was
complicated and required a lot of troubleshooting and I managed to do it.

Ulysees,

What happens if you run "net user guest /active:yes" in the command window?

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Ulysses]

I did that once before and I don't remember exactly what happened. I think
it opened a dos window and said "guest" was enabled. This time it opened a
Dos window and closed before I could see what it said.


"

 

[Chuck]

I did that once before and I don't remember exactly what happened. I think
it opened a dos window and said "guest" was enabled. This time it opened a
Dos window and closed before I could see what it said.

Run it as
Start - Run - "cmd" - "net user guest /active:yes"
NOT as
Start - Run - "net user guest /active:yes"
See the difference? You should have an open command window after running the
command.

It sounds like Guest is already enabled anyway.

But that's getting off the subject. I think you really need to ask why you
can't:
- Find "Manage" under My Computer.
- Use TCP/IP Properties.

Forget about "Use Simple File Sharing". That's preset in XP Home, you can't
change it.

IMHO, you need to continue, by posting in microsoft.public.windowsxp.general,
and microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support. Your problem starts with the
inability of your administrator account to run administrative tasks. Once you
get that resolved, post back here to continue with your network problems.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Ulysses]

Duh. I think I'm experiencing total brain meltdown. CMD first.

Ok, thanks. Lack of Administrator rights and priveledges gives me a
direction to go in. Since I've never seen a Network Administrator I didn't
think that they really exist.

Also, I did not know that Simple File Sharing is not an option in XP Home.
According to MS it is. They even have a video showing how to move your mouse
cursor to the little box and which mouse button to click to check the box.
I guess they changed it and didn't feel the need to say so.

 

[Chuck]

Duh. I think I'm experiencing total brain meltdown. CMD first.

Ok, thanks. Lack of Administrator rights and priveledges gives me a
direction to go in. Since I've never seen a Network Administrator I didn't
think that they really exist.

Also, I did not know that Simple File Sharing is not an option in XP Home.
According to MS it is. They even have a video showing how to move your mouse
cursor to the little box and which mouse button to click to check the box.
I guess they changed it and didn't feel the need to say so.

Really? Can you please supply the link to that video? Would be of great
interest to a lot of folks here.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.