Can't Access Device on LAN

[Ron]

I have a XP desktop on my LAN. All other devices on the LAN can see it but
when they try to open it, we receive message
"Device Name is not accessible. You might not have permission to use the
network resource. Contact Admin to check permissions. Network Path not
found."

The device is signed in with ADMIN and all devices trying to access it have
ADMIN authority.

Any ideas?

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

Assuming all devices use admin account, do they use the same password or
blank password?

--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com

 

[Ron]

No they do not necessarily have the same password.
They do not necessarily have the same sign on but they do have Admin
authority.
I also verified Guest account was activated and restictananymous was set to
0 in regedit. I also checked enable netbios over tcp/ip in lan properties.

 

[Malke]

No they do not necessarily have the same password.
They do not necessarily have the same sign on but they do have Admin
authority.
I also verified Guest account was activated and restictananymous was set
to
0 in regedit. I also checked enable netbios over tcp/ip in lan
properties.

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

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

Malke

 

[Ron]

I turned off Simple File Sharing but it didn't help.
All computers already have a login & password.

I don't know if this tells us anything but the Problem XP box can see and
access all other devices on the network. The other devices just can't acces
it.

 

[Malke]

I turned off Simple File Sharing but it didn't help.
All computers already have a login & password.

Matching? You told Robert that the passwords didn't match. Example:

Box 1 has Susan, password 1234
Box 2 has Susan, password 5678

Susan on Box 1 will not be able to access shares on Box 2.

I don't know if this tells us anything but the Problem XP box can see and
access all other devices on the network. The other devices just can't
acces it.

It tells us that you don't have your user accounts set up properly, and/or
your shares set up with the right permissions, and/or your firewall is
misconfigured.

Troubleshoot systematically. Here is my full "boilerplate" about that. Take
the bits you need. If you still can't figure it out, MVP Hans-Georg Michna
has an excellent network troubleshooter here:

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
=====
For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

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.
=====

Malke

 

[Ron]

What I meant was passwords did not match and user name did not match but they
all had ADMIN authority.

I turned off firewall completely on the problem XP machine.
Now I can access the machine.
But when I try to add its printer to a laptop, I can now see the printer but
when I try to add, I get message 'Windows cannot connect to printer. Access
Denied'.

I moved the printer to shared docs but it did not help.

 

[Malke]

What I meant was passwords did not match and user name did not match but
they all had ADMIN authority.

It doesn't matter whether their user accounts are Computer Administrators.
They need to match and they need to exist on the machine hosting the shared
resources.

I turned off firewall completely on the problem XP machine.
Now I can access the machine.

This means that in addition to the possible problem with the user accounts,
your firewall is misconfigured and/or you are inadvertently running two
firewalls on that machine.

But when I try to add its printer to a laptop, I can now see the printer
but
when I try to add, I get message 'Windows cannot connect to printer.
Access Denied'.

Already answered.

I moved the printer to shared docs but it did not help.

As expected.

Please either go through the detailed troubleshooting I already gave you or
take the time to go through Hans-Georg's troubleshooter. The alternative is
to have a competent local computer tech come on-site and do the things
listed in my troubleshooter for you.

I really don't have anything to add to what I've already told you. Since you
apparently don't want to follow any of the advice that would give you a
completely working network, EOT for me.

Malke

 

[Ron]

Thats fine if you don't want to assist any more but don't say " Since you
apparently don't want to follow any of the advice that would give you a
completely working network"
I have just spent 6 hours going through all of your instructions including
automatic login which made no nense why I needed that.
Thanks for your time but don't say I didn't follow your advice.
Also you made no mention of Hans-Georg's troubleshooter so I still have no
idea what that is.

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
We can provide info and a way to find the trouble, in reality there are
numerous amount of checking in the Sharing/Security/Permission system of the
OS. It enough that in one spot there a check missing (or extra check) and
the sharing will not work. Unfortunately since we do not sit in front of
your computer we can Not check the details and find the point that you
probably miss (some time it takes me long time and repeat attempts until I
find on my own systems the culprit).
So in general, successful Sharing involves some general consideration in
Network settings, http://www.ezlan.net/sharing.html
As well as specific adjustment of each computer according to what it is
allowed to be Shared.
Vista File and Printer Sharing-
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx
Windows XP File Sharing -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
Printer Sharing XP -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx
Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357
Windows XP patch for Sharing with Vista -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922120
Jack (MVP-Networking).