Jolendd said:
I have 2 home computers both using XP pro that I just recently
connected through a router (wired) to access the internet via 1 high
speed modem. The problem is 1 computer can see both shared directories
on both computers with no problem. The other computer shows the
computer on the LAN but cannot access the shared files or printer. It
says access is denied. I am fairly computer literate and have ran the
XP network setup a few times. Suggestions please?
This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. When you ran
the Network Setup Wizard, (and made sure to enable File & Printer
Sharing) this turned 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.
If one or more of the computers is XP Pro:
a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.
b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.
Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation.
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