workgroup/file sharing

[lesiofamily]

Hi,
I have 2 win xp (PRO and HOME) computers with SP3 installed, cable modem and
netgear wireless router (WPA-PSK security); NIS on both PCs; one PC is wired
(PRO) to router the other one has wireless USB adapter (HOME);
both can receive internet signal.
when I set up home network - when I go to my network places I can see only
shared folders from my wireless PC; in computers in my workgroup I can only
see my wireless PC ; so I can access my wireless PC from my wired PC.
Question: why I can not see my wired PC and its printer ?
any suggestions?
thanks

lesio

 

[Malke]

Hi,
I have 2 win xp (PRO and HOME) computers with SP3 installed, cable modem
and netgear wireless router (WPA-PSK security); NIS on both PCs; one PC is
wired (PRO) to router the other one has wireless USB adapter (HOME);
both can receive internet signal.
when I set up home network - when I go to my network places I can see
only shared folders from my wireless PC; in computers in my workgroup I
can only see my wireless PC ; so I can access my wireless PC from my wired
PC. Question: why I can not see my wired PC and its printer ?
any suggestions?
thanks

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.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/security program with its own
firewall component, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I
usually configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for
how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall.
DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

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

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances,
certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside
of this response.

Malke

 

[lesiofamily]

can you elaborate a little bit more on
C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines
what does it mean?
each PC has its own user (only one on each machine)
please tell me more

 

[Malke]

can you elaborate a little bit more on
C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines
what does it mean?
each PC has its own user (only one on each machine)
please tell me more

Elaborate how? I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this:

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

IOW, if you have username[John]assword[123] and
username[Mary]assword[456] on Machine A, create the same
accounts/passwords on Machine B.

Malke

 

[lesiofamily]

the reason I am asking is that I had my network setup before and each PC had
different user - the accounts did not match - and every PC was visible and
accessible
ok - I will create the account and see if there is any difference - I will
let you know
do you know what is the reason for account matching (except that "they have
to"?)

lb

can you elaborate a little bit more on
C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines
what does it mean?
each PC has its own user (only one on each machine)
please tell me more

Elaborate how? I'm not sure how much clearer I can make this:

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords
just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot
directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

IOW, if you have username[John]assword[123] and
username[Mary]assword[456] on Machine A, create the same
accounts/passwords on Machine B.

Malke

 

[Malke]

the reason I am asking is that I had my network setup before and each PC
had different user - the accounts did not match - and every PC was visible
and accessible
ok - I will create the account and see if there is any difference - I will
let you know
do you know what is the reason for account matching (except that "they
have to"?)

Perhaps you had all XP Home machines and/or XP Pro with Simple File Sharing
off. This would mean that all computers would be connecting to each other
as Guest. Since you have some XP Pro machines, perhaps you disabled Simple
File Sharing. There is simply no way for me to know the answer to The First
Question of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time things worked
and the time they didn't. Only you can answer that question. I've told you
how to make sure file/printer sharing works all the time and reliably. You
certainly can try it however you had it before.

The reason for the accounts/passwords to match and why this makes
cross-platform networking easy is that in a peer-to-peer Local Area Network
(called a "Workgroup" in the Windows world), authentication is done locally
on each workstation since there is no central server holding authentication
tokens as there is when you have a server.

IOW, when a Mary:1234 on Computer A tries to access a shared resource on
Computer B, Computer B checks its "list" to see if it "knows" Mary:1234. If
Mary:1234 doesn't exist on Computer B, Computer B will pop up a login box
asking for an authenticated user. If OTOH Mary:1234 does exist on Computer
B, she will have seamless access with no denial.

Malke

 

[lesiofamily]

I like explanation with Mary thanks
I will make same user accounts

 

[jch]

Malke wrote:

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You
do not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and
the passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. DO
NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

IOW, if you have username[John]assword[123] and
username[Mary]assword[456] on Machine A, create the same
accounts/passwords on Machine B.

Malke

Are you sure about those matching accounts? In my simple home network of
2 Vista laptops, 1 XP Media laptop, and 1 XP Pro desktop, I have full
functionality of sharing files among all 4 PCs and I do not have matching
user accounts on any of the machines.

 

[lesiofamily]

jch any suggestions
why my wired desktop xp pro is "invisible " in my network places or comp in
my workgroup and can fully access wireless desktop xp home which is of
course fully visible
I can see both my PC in my Norton network view so I guess my firewall is set
for network
what else can I check?

lb

Malke wrote:

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You
do not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and
the passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. DO
NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

IOW, if you have username[John]assword[123] and
username[Mary]assword[456] on Machine A, create the same
accounts/passwords on Machine B.

Malke

Are you sure about those matching accounts? In my simple home network
of 2 Vista laptops, 1 XP Media laptop, and 1 XP Pro desktop, I have full
functionality of sharing files among all 4 PCs and I do not have matching
user accounts on any of the machines.

 

[jch]

I wouldn't assume your firewall isnt to blame here. Completely turn off all
firewalls and then evaluate the situation.

jch any suggestions
why my wired desktop xp pro is "invisible " in my network places or
comp in my workgroup and can fully access wireless desktop xp home
which is of course fully visible
I can see both my PC in my Norton network view so I guess my firewall
is set for network
what else can I check?

lb

Malke wrote:

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You
do not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and
the passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. DO
NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you
wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions
at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn
off Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

IOW, if you have username[John]assword[123] and
username[Mary]assword[456] on Machine A, create the same
accounts/passwords on Machine B.

Malke

Are you sure about those matching accounts? In my simple home
network of 2 Vista laptops, 1 XP Media laptop, and 1 XP Pro desktop,
I have full functionality of sharing files among all 4 PCs and I do
not have matching user accounts on any of the machines.