Can't see computers in a workgroup

[George]

I have a home network with 2 desktops (wired) and one
laptop (wireless). The laptop is running XP Home, one PC
is running win 2000 and the other is running XP Home. The
desktop running XP Home doesn't show the icons of the
other computers in the workgroup or itself. I can ping the
other 2 computers and the other two computers can see all
three in the workgroup. Nothing shows up in 'My Network
Places" either. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Chuck]

I have a home network with 2 desktops (wired) and one
laptop (wireless). The laptop is running XP Home, one PC
is running win 2000 and the other is running XP Home. The
desktop running XP Home doesn't show the icons of the
other computers in the workgroup or itself. I can ping the
other 2 computers and the other two computers can see all
three in the workgroup. Nothing shows up in 'My Network
Places" either. Any suggestions? Thanks.

George,

Do you have any firewalls (ICF or third party) installed or running on any of
the computers? If so, you need to open the following ports for file and printer
sharing: TCP 139, 445; UDP 137, 138, 445. If possible, open those ports only to
the specific ip addresses of the other 2 computers.

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

 

[George]

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


George,

Do you have any firewalls (ICF or third party) installed or running on any of
the computers? If so, you need to open the following ports for file and printer
sharing: TCP 139, 445; UDP 137, 138, 445. If possible, open those ports only to
the specific ip addresses of the other 2 computers.

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

Chuck,

Thanks for your suggestion. The two computers that are
able to see all computers in the workgroup can access the
files on the one with the problem. I can also print to a
printer with a network print server attached using the
problem computer. ICF is turned off currently. I forgot to
mention previously that the 'Entire Network', 'Microsoft
Windows Network' and other default icons are missing
from 'My Network Places'.

Thanks,
George

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

Thanks for your suggestion. The two computers that are
able to see all computers in the workgroup can access the
files on the one with the problem. I can also print to a
printer with a network print server attached using the
problem computer. ICF is turned off currently. I forgot to
mention previously that the 'Entire Network', 'Microsoft
Windows Network' and other default icons are missing
from 'My Network Places'.

Thanks,
George

George,

Are all 3 computers using NetBIOS Over TCP/IP for file sharing? And all 3
computers have file sharing enabled? And all 3 are in the same workgroup? Do
all 3 computers have both "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Printer
Sharing for Microsoft Networks" listed under Network Properties?

Please post ipconfig information for each computer.
Start - Run - "ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt" - Open c:\ipconfig.txt in
Notepad, copy and paste into your next post.

Nine times out of ten, this problem is caused by a software firewall installed
(not necessarily enabled) on a computer, and interfering with browsing / file
sharing. The lack of symmetry here is entirely in keeping with that scenario.

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