Setting up a home network

[Guest]

Just started setting up a home network, 2 computers, both xp home, one
wireless, 1 by ethernet, going through a belkin router, I am able to access
one of my computers files from the other, but not the other way around. So
they are connected, or as I think of it networked, but only in one direction.
Are there some simple trouble shooting steps, or sites (besides the worthless
microsoft help and support pages that haven't been any help) worth visiting
that may give me enough information to solve this, and get the two computers
to talk to each other both ways? Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Just started setting up a home network, 2 computers, both xp home, one
wireless, 1 by ethernet, going through a belkin router, I am able to
access one of my computers files from the other, but not the other way
around. So they are connected, or as I think of it networked, but only
in one direction. Are there some simple trouble shooting steps, or
sites (besides the worthless microsoft help and support pages that
haven't been any help) worth visiting that may give me enough
information to solve this, and get the two computers to talk to each
other both ways? Thanks.

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. Run the
Network Setup Wizard on both computers, making sure to enable File &
Printer Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will turn
on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like
Norton 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke

 

[Guest]

How do I determine if I am running a 3rd party firewall?

 

[Malke]

How do I determine if I am running a 3rd party firewall?

Don't you know what's installed on your computer? Look at your Start
Menu! Examine your antivirus program and see if it - like recent
versions of Norton and McAfee - have a firewall component.

Malke