Cannot browse - Windows Firewall

[abd08]

Hi all,

Simple problem:

- 2 computers connected wirelessly using a wireless router
- Static IPs all around
- Computer A - XP Pro SP2 (192.168.1.3)
- Computer B - XP Home SP2 (192.168.1.5) - wireless
(192.168.0.1) - Lan Card
- Computer B - ICS enabled

Clicking on "Start", "Run", then "\\192.168.1.5" on Computer A results
in an error, however, if I disable the Windows Firewall on Computer B,
I can browse/access everything fine.

Computer B Windows Firewall is set to allow File and Printer sharing
as an exception.
Computer B has no other firewall s/w installed.
Both machines have Netbios over TCP/IP enabled.

Any ideas on how to get this working??
Thanks!!
Raj

 

[Malke]

Hi all,

Simple problem:

- 2 computers connected wirelessly using a wireless router
- Static IPs all around
- Computer A - XP Pro SP2 (192.168.1.3)
- Computer B - XP Home SP2 (192.168.1.5) - wireless
(192.168.0.1) - Lan Card
- Computer B - ICS enabled

Clicking on "Start", "Run", then "\\192.168.1.5" on Computer A results
in an error, however, if I disable the Windows Firewall on Computer B,
I can browse/access everything fine.

Computer B Windows Firewall is set to allow File and Printer sharing
as an exception.
Computer B has no other firewall s/w installed.
Both machines have Netbios over TCP/IP enabled.

There is no reason to use ICS when you have a router. Even if the router
isn't doing DHCP (since you are using static IP's), the router does NAT
to share your Internet connection. So remove the ICS and set the
firewall to allow the local area network as trusted. See below for
general networking troubleshooting:

Run the Network Setup Wizard on all 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.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

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