Can't see other machines in "My network places"

[Dave Rudolf]

Hey all,

So, for some time now, I have had a desktop computer and a laptop, both
XP Pro with SP2. I have been sharing files between the two for a long
time, but suddenly I can't do it any more. If I go into "my network
places" on either machine, that machine will list itself but not the
other one. However, each machine can go off to the internet in general,
so it's not a raw connection problem -- hence how I am able to post this .

As far as I know, I haven't changed anything on either machine, or the
network topology, that would affect this. No updates or new software on
either. No change in router settings (they are directly connected to the
same router, though the laptop is through wifi and the desktop is a hard
line). No change in permissions on the machines.

Doing some basic sloothing, I see that file sharing is enabled on each
machine, and I can see the list of shared folders on a given machine
when looking at that machine's entry in the network places. Also, the
router doesn't seem to have any specific blocks for local traffic.

So what might be preventing the two machines from seeing each other?

Thanks.

 

[Danny Smith]

Have you tried pinging each machine from the other? It's basic but it'll
highlight any protocol stack issues.

Go to Run, type "cmd" and on the command line type "ping --ip address or
hostname of other computer--" and press enter.