Networking XP Pro->XP Home - problems...

[Pheasant Plucker®]

I have tried in vain to use the Network Wizard on 2 XP machines (named Comp1
and Comp2) to try and connect them together to share resources, such as a
modem dial-up connection for Internet access, inkjet printer and USB Maxtor
external drive (connected to comp1) and the laser printer (connected to
Comp2).

Unfortunately it did not work.

On checking the settings I noticed that Comp2 was set for DHCP - I do not
see how to set DHCP server on Comp1 and the Internet connection is via a PCI
modem and not a broadband router so there is no DHCP Server that I can see.

I gave Comp2 a static IP address and reconfigured both machines manually
taking care to set the same Workgroup called OFFICE, IP address range
192.168.0.1 (Comp1) and 192.168.0.2 (Comp2) and ensure the subnet mask is
set to 255.255.255.0 on both machines.

I set the Gateway on Comp2 to point at 192.168.0.1 (Comp1)

TCP/IP is obviously installed and appears to be working as I can ping each
machine locally by its own IP address - however I cannot ping Comp1 from
Comp2 and vice-versa.

Strange though that Comp2 icon shows up in Comp1's Network connections
window sometimes although it cannot be accessed reporting that;

"Network path not found. \\Comp2 is not accessible. You might not have
permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this
server to find out if you have access permission."

I have tried cabling them together using both a crossover cable connected
directly to each NIC and through a Netgear 4 port hub using straight through
CAT5 cables - but still they don't talk...

I have even shared the root of drive C: on both machines which is something
that I would not normally do preferring to share just the specific folders
required in a vain attempt to get them to talk in addition to setting the
shares on both printers and the external Maxtor drive and setting up the ICS
so Comp2 is able to share the Internet connection on Comp1.

Is there something fundamental that I have missed?

I have had no trouble setting up Client/Server networks since Novell
3.12/WFW 3.11 and have also successfully connected NT3.5/NT4 Server networks
using Win95/98/NT4/2K/XP as clients and have also set up peer-to-peer
networks using Win95 in a previous life.

Now that Microsoft has made it easy with XP I cannot get the damn things to
talk :-(

Both machines are at SP1 with firewalls disabled and both machines boot
straight into the XP desktop without asking for password etc. if that has
any bearing on the problem.

There are no 3rd party firewalls working on either machine.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

On checking the settings I noticed that Comp2 was set for DHCP - I do not
see how to set DHCP server on Comp1 and the Internet connection is via a PCI
modem and not a broadband router so there is no DHCP Server that I can see.

When you enable Internet Connection Sharing on one computer that
has an Internet connection, it also becomes a DHCP server.

"Network path not found. \\Comp2 is not accessible. You might not have
permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this
server to find out if you have access permission."

Please use http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm to solve this
problem.

I have even shared the root of drive C: on both machines which is something
that I would not normally do preferring to share just the specific folders
required in a vain attempt to get them to talk in addition to setting the
shares on both printers and the external Maxtor drive and setting up the ICS
so Comp2 is able to share the Internet connection on Comp1.

Not possible on Windows XP Home Edition, possible only on XP
Professional. I presume you have XP Professional. Have you
enabled or disabled Simple File Sharing (in Windows Explorer)? I
recommend Simple File Sharing, at least until you have
everything working.

Both machines are at SP1 with firewalls disabled

There are no 3rd party firewalls working on either machine.

Has one computer been connected to the Internet without
firewall? Then all bets are off.

Hans-Georg

 

[Pheasant Plucker®]

Hi Hans-Georg,

Many thanks for your reply.

I wasn't aware that enabling ICS on the XP Pro machine enabled DHCP -
thanks.

Even so with a manually assigned IP address in the same range/subnet they
should still talk - right?

Strangely though in desperation I had disabled ICS in the vain attempt to
get both machines to talk to each other with manually assigned IP addresses
but still no cigar! :-(

I have read your 'Form' but I had already enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP on
both computers.

What exactly is not possible on XP Home?
Sharing the root drive? Printer? External USB drive?
Or all of the above?
Does it make any difference as I have one XP Pro and one XP Home?

The original Internet XP Pro machine has NAV installed and up to date and
had the XP firewall enabled.
It was me who disabled the XP firewall in case that was preventing the two
machines networking.

The first thing I did before I done anything else was to run Ad-Aware
Personal SE with updated defs (I am a long-term registered user of Plus
myself)
because I was also going to update to SP2 however I did not want to
complicate things so I have not patched either system yet...just need to get
the damn things working as required.

Kind regards,
-=pp=-

 

[Guest]

Does it make any difference as I have one XP Pro and one XP Home?

I think it does. At my old house I tried to network my XP Pro with my
roomates XP Home. I had the same message too when trying to access the comp
from my networks. I couldnt figure it out as I'm not a network gurru yet.
My brother whos MCSE had to come over and fix it. I think it had something
to do with XP Pro having a NTFS file system and XP Home having FAT32. My bro
had to mess around in the Administrative Tools section and set up some sort
of allowances or something. Sorry I'm not much help. I'm getting ready to
attempt this again myself as my new roomate has XP Home also, go figure.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Many thanks for your reply.

You're welcome.

I wasn't aware that enabling ICS on the XP Pro machine enabled DHCP -
thanks.

Even so with a manually assigned IP address in the same range/subnet they
should still talk - right?

Yes, they should. However, it is not quite correct, because it
is possible that the DHCP server assigns the same address to
another computer, like a visiting laptop, causing an IP address
conflict. Short of that, it will work.

What exactly is not possible on XP Home?
Sharing the root drive? Printer? External USB drive?
Or all of the above?
Does it make any difference as I have one XP Pro and one XP Home?

I think sharing the root is not possible with Windows XP Home
Edition. Windows XP Professional with Simple File Sharing
enabled behaves very similarly to XP Home. Therefore this will
make things simpler. But it is not a prerequisite. If you know
what you're doing, you can run Home and Pro side by side without
any problems.

The original Internet XP Pro machine has NAV installed and up to date and
had the XP firewall enabled.
It was me who disabled the XP firewall in case that was preventing the two
machines networking.

The first thing I did before I done anything else was to run Ad-Aware
Personal SE with updated defs (I am a long-term registered user of Plus
myself)
because I was also going to update to SP2 however I did not want to
complicate things so I have not patched either system yet...just need to get
the damn things working as required.

They should be working now. After filling the form in
http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm could you please copy the
selections line underneath the form, just above the three
buttons, and post it here? Next I would need to know which of
the relevant points on the page you did or did not apply. You
mentioned only one, NetBIOS over TCP/IP. But there are more.

Hans-Georg

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

"Pheasant Plucker®" wrote:

I think it does. At my old house I tried to network my XP Pro with my
roomates XP Home. I had the same message too when trying to access the comp
from my networks. I couldnt figure it out as I'm not a network gurru yet.
My brother whos MCSE had to come over and fix it. I think it had something
to do with XP Pro having a NTFS file system and XP Home having FAT32.

Stabby,

that can't be. The file system is transparent to the network and
therefore does not matter.

My bro
had to mess around in the Administrative Tools section and set up some sort
of allowances or something. Sorry I'm not much help. I'm getting ready to
attempt this again myself as my new roomate has XP Home also, go figure.

Simplest way is to have Simple File Sharing enabled in XP Pro as
well, then it's relatively easy. And in the firewall open the
exception for File and Printer Sharing. If that's not enough,
work your way through http://www.michna.com/kb/wxnet.htm.

Hans-Georg