Access Denied

[Bob]

I have trying for six weeks to set up a network through a
Linksys hub with two computers using Windows XP Home
Edition. I formerly used Windows 98 SE without a hitch.
Networked and shared printers perfectly.

The two computers reconize each other as listed in the
computers on the the network however when I click on the
other computer, I keep getting a message:

Computer 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 permissions.
Access denied.

Well I am the administrator of both computers. I'm
starting to hate XP as 98 SE was by far the best
Operating system Mr. Gates ever produced.

Any clues how to get around this message? Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

I have trying for six weeks to set up a network through a
Linksys hub with two computers using Windows XP Home
Edition. I formerly used Windows 98 SE without a hitch.
Networked and shared printers perfectly.

The two computers reconize each other as listed in the
computers on the the network however when I click on the
other computer, I keep getting a message:

Computer 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 permissions.
Access denied.

Well I am the administrator of both computers. I'm
starting to hate XP as 98 SE was by far the best
Operating system Mr. Gates ever produced.

Any clues how to get around this message? Thanks.

Bob,

Make sure the browser service is running on each computer. Control
Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that the Computer
Browser service is started.

For XP Home, make sure that the Guest account is enabled, on each
computer. Simple File Sharing provides shares ONLY thru the Guest
account.

Do any of the computers have a software firewall (ICF or third party)?
If so, you need to configure them for file sharing, by opening ports
TCP 139, 445 and UDP 137, 138, 445, and / or by identifying the other
computers as present in the Local (Trusted) zone. Firewall
configurations are a very common cause of (network) browser, and file
sharing, problems.

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

 

[Guest]

In XP you have to choose which folders, printers, files to share on each computer. Right click on each drive or folder you want to share and pick Sharing and Security. You'll love XP once you get the hang of it. It's just more secure than W98 and nowadays Security is needed.

 

[Bob]

-----Original Message-----


Bob,

Make sure the browser service is running on each computer. Control
Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that the Computer
Browser service is started.

For XP Home, make sure that the Guest account is enabled, on each
computer. Simple File Sharing provides shares ONLY thru the Guest
account.

Do any of the computers have a software firewall (ICF or third party)?
If so, you need to configure them for file sharing, by opening ports
TCP 139, 445 and UDP 137, 138, 445, and / or by identifying the other
computers as present in the Local (Trusted) zone. Firewall
configurations are a very common cause of (network) browser, and file
sharing, problems.

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

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for your message. I have turned on the Guest
Account for both computers. They were both inactive.

I checked the Browser service and this was active on both
computers.

I have a firewall on the new Pentium 4 3:00 GHz computer.
I'm running McAfee Firewall Network filter which is
checked in the Local Area Connection Properties Box. I'm
also running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Beta) which has
its own new firewall that you can manually manage. This
by the way, was just installed.

How do you access the local trusted zone in XP? I assume
through the Control Panel Internet Options however I
haven't found what I need there. The other option is to
open the various ports you mentioned. How do you
reconfigure your ports in Windows XP?

Appreciate your help. Thanks, Chuck.

Bob

 

[Chuck]

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for your message. I have turned on the Guest
Account for both computers. They were both inactive.

I checked the Browser service and this was active on both
computers.

I have a firewall on the new Pentium 4 3:00 GHz computer.
I'm running McAfee Firewall Network filter which is
checked in the Local Area Connection Properties Box. I'm
also running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Beta) which has
its own new firewall that you can manually manage. This
by the way, was just installed.

How do you access the local trusted zone in XP? I assume
through the Control Panel Internet Options however I
haven't found what I need there. The other option is to
open the various ports you mentioned. How do you
reconfigure your ports in Windows XP?

Appreciate your help. Thanks, Chuck.

Bob

Hi Bob,

You have three possible problems:
- File sharing
- ICF (SP2 version)
- McAfee PF

I would suggest you start by disabling both ICF and McAfee, until you
get file sharing (Guest accounts etc) working otherwise. Then enable
ICF, and configure it. Finally, enable MPF, and configure it. Work
on, and resolve, one problem at a time.

WRT configuring ICF and MPF, you may want to consult the documentation
for each. I don't have access to my SP2 test computer right now. And
I've not yet tested MPF, so I can't say with authority how you
configure that either.

I simply know from experience that personal firewalls have to be
configured so other computers on the Local LAN segment are trusted.
But you should not open the required ports, to enable file sharing,
for all computers.

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

 

[melnick]

Add IPX protocol - don't know why it solves the problem but it does.

 

[Bob]

Well, I had some partial success. The newer Pentium
computer finally reconized the older AMD Athlon on the
network and I could access it successfully. The AMD
Athlon, however, still comes up with the Access Denied
message.

I did a complete reformat of the HD on the AMD Athlon
today and set up the protocols, the same as was on the
newer Pentium. The Pentium is running Service Pack 2
while the AMD Athlon remains with Microsoft Service Pack
1.

Not sure where the problem is. Firewall on the Pentium
blocking the AMD Athlon or something in the AMD Athlon
not wanting to connect through to the newer computer.

Partial success is better than no success at all.

Bob