Advice on home networking

[Chris Petersen]

Hello all,

I have 3 computers

AA: XP Home, Desktop, CAT 5
BB: XP Home, Laptop, Wireless
CC: XP Pro, Desktop, CAT 5

I have a Linksys wireless router and Comcast Cable Internet.

All 3 have internet connectivity.

AA and BB can create a workgroup (MSHOME) and share files/printers.

Neither can connect to CC.

CC says it doesn't have permission to see MSHOME.

AA and BB have CC listed as one of their workgroup computers but do
not have permission.

I'm assuming there is just one or two settings I need to adjust on CC
to make it "friendly" and my grandson instructed me this group is the
best place to go to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you in advance.

 

[Guest]

I have the exact same scenario at my house...

I have been trying to figure this one out for a while...

I can ping all ip addresses from everywhere, but cannot connect to CC...

Very frustrating. If I figure it out...i will let you in on the secret.

 

[Carey Holzman]

If anyone would like to work on their networking issues one on one, just
send me an email and I will walk you through the proper setup and
configuration personally.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Chuck]

Hello all,

I have 3 computers

AA: XP Home, Desktop, CAT 5
BB: XP Home, Laptop, Wireless
CC: XP Pro, Desktop, CAT 5

I have a Linksys wireless router and Comcast Cable Internet.

All 3 have internet connectivity.

AA and BB can create a workgroup (MSHOME) and share files/printers.

Neither can connect to CC.

CC says it doesn't have permission to see MSHOME.

AA and BB have CC listed as one of their workgroup computers but do
not have permission.

I'm assuming there is just one or two settings I need to adjust on CC
to make it "friendly" and my grandson instructed me this group is the
best place to go to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you in advance.

Chris,

On any XP Pro computer, check to see if Simple File Sharing (Control Panel -
Folder Options - View - Advanced settings) is enabled or disabled. With XP Home
and Pro together, you probably should have SFS enabled on the XP Pro computer.

On XP Pro with SFS disabled, check the Local Security Policies (Control Panel -
Administrative Tools). Under Local Policies - Security Options, look at
"Network access: Sharing and security model", and ensure it's set to "Classic -
local users authenticate as themselves".

On XP Pro with SFS disabled, if you set the above Local Security Policy to
"Guest only", enable the Guest account, using Start - Run - "cmd" - type "net
user guest /active:yes" in the command window. If "Classic", setup and use a
common non-Guest account on all computers. Whichever account is used, give it
an identical, non-blank password on all computers.

On XP Home, and on XP Pro with Simple File Sharing enabled, make sure that the
Guest account is enabled, on each computer. Enable Guest with Start - Run -
"cmd" - type "net user guest /active:yes" in the command window.

On XP Pro, if you're going to use Guest authentication, check your Local
Security Policy (Control Panel - Administrative Tools) - User Rights Assignment,
on the XP Pro computer, and look at "Deny access to this computer from the
network". Make sure Guest is not in the list.

Do any of the computers have a software firewall (ICF / WF, or third party)? If
so, you need to configure them for file sharing. 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.

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Hello all,

I have 3 computers

AA: XP Home, Desktop, CAT 5
BB: XP Home, Laptop, Wireless
CC: XP Pro, Desktop, CAT 5

I have a Linksys wireless router and Comcast Cable Internet.

All 3 have internet connectivity.

AA and BB can create a workgroup (MSHOME) and share files/printers.

Neither can connect to CC.

CC says it doesn't have permission to see MSHOME.

AA and BB have CC listed as one of their workgroup computers but do
not have permission.

I'm assuming there is just one or two settings I need to adjust on CC
to make it "friendly" and my grandson instructed me this group is the
best place to go to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you in advance.

Run XP's Network Setup Wizard on CC, and tell it that the computer
connects to the Internet through a residential gateway (router).
That's often all that's needed.

If that doesn't solve the problem, these tips should help:

1. If the computers run the original or SP1 versions of Windows XP,
disable XP's built-in Internet Connection Firewall on local area
network connections -- it's for use only on a direct modem connection
to the Internet. If they run SP2, enable the exception for file and
printer sharing in the Windows Firewall. Disable and un-install all
other firewall programs while troubleshooting. When un-installing a
firewall program, use the un-install procedure provided by the
manufacturer . Don't use Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs,
which might not completely un-install it.

For more information, see:

Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/ic_firewall.htm

2. Use only one protocol for File and Printer Sharing. If the network
needs more than one protocol, unbind File and Printer Sharing from all
but one of them. Details here:

Windows XP Network Protocols
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/network_protocols.htm

3. Make sure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers.
Details here:

Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP (NetBT)
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/troubleshoot/netbt.htm

4. Run "ipconfig /all" on XP and look at the "Node Type" at the
beginning of the output. If it says "Peer-to-Peer" (which should
actually be "Point-to-Point") that's the problem. It means that the
computer only uses a WINS server, which isn't available on a
peer-to-peer network, for NetBIOS name resolution.

If that's the case, run the registry editor, open this key:

HLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netbt\Parameters

and delete these values if they're present:

NodeType
DhcpNodeType

Reboot, then try network access again.

If that doesn't fix it, open that registry key again, create a DWORD
value called "NodeType", and set it to 1 for "Broadcast" or 4 for
"Mixed".

For details, see these Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:

Default Node Type for Microsoft Clients
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;160177

TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314053
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Chris Petersen]

Thank you all for your knowledge and input, after reading your advice
I did some investigation and found a hidden third party firewall
installed on "CC", I'm not sure how it got their, possibly when I
swapped motherboards, but I removed it via it's uninstall program (not
add/remove per instruction) and this resolved the problem. Again,
thank you all for your help.

 

[Chuck]

Thank you all for your knowledge and input, after reading your advice
I did some investigation and found a hidden third party firewall
installed on "CC", I'm not sure how it got their, possibly when I
swapped motherboards, but I removed it via it's uninstall program (not
add/remove per instruction) and this resolved the problem. Again,
thank you all for your help.

Chris,

Thanks for updating us. For our curiosity, what firewall was it that you found?

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