Can't set up a simple network share.

[Billy Smith]

I have two machines on home LAN with a router connected to a DSL
modem. Both machines run WinXP Pro. I'm trying to
create a share on machine A and then access it from machine B.
But machine B sees no shares on A.

On machine A I make My Computer\Shared Documents shared
(using admin privileges) and set the share name. I then reboot
machine A, then machine B. On B under My Network Places no share
on machine A is visible. Also on B, when I look under Entire Network\
Microsoft Windows Network, I see what appears to be the name
of a network called xhome. When I doubleclick on xhome I get
an error message saying xhome is not accessible because I
might not have permissions and the network path is not found.

Other info:
Both machines use Simple File Sharing.
I've tried all combinations of limited and admin privileges on
both machines.
On both machines I turned software firewall (ZoneAlarm) off.
On both machines web browsers read web pages fine.
I tried both wireless and Ethernet wire connections.

I've successfully shared disk space between these two machines in
just this way before but something is different now. Why is this
not working and how can I troubleshoot it?

Thanks.

 

[Brian A.]

I have two machines on home LAN with a router connected to a DSL
modem. Both machines run WinXP Pro. I'm trying to
create a share on machine A and then access it from machine B.
But machine B sees no shares on A.

On machine A I make My Computer\Shared Documents shared
(using admin privileges) and set the share name. I then reboot
machine A, then machine B. On B under My Network Places no share
on machine A is visible. Also on B, when I look under Entire Network\
Microsoft Windows Network, I see what appears to be the name
of a network called xhome. When I doubleclick on xhome I get
an error message saying xhome is not accessible because I
might not have permissions and the network path is not found.

Other info:
Both machines use Simple File Sharing.
I've tried all combinations of limited and admin privileges on
both machines.
On both machines I turned software firewall (ZoneAlarm) off.
On both machines web browsers read web pages fine.
I tried both wireless and Ethernet wire connections.

I've successfully shared disk space between these two machines in
just this way before but something is different now. Why is this
not working and how can I troubleshoot it?

Thanks.

Right click My Network Places on the Desktop.
Click Properties.
Right click Local Area Connection.
Click Properties.

Under "This connection uses....."
Click "Client for MS Networks".
Click Properties.
Select "Windows Locator" from the dropdown box, if disabled skip.
Click Ok.

Scroll to and select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
Click Properties.

Under the General tab make sure "Obtain an IP address automatically" is
selected.
Click the Advanced button.

Under the DNS tab:
Selected "Append Primary and Parent DNS suffixes.
Register this connections address in DNS"

Under the WINS tab > NetBIOS:
Selected Default.
Ok out of MNP.
Reboot if required.

Test connectivity:
Open a command prompt, click Start > Run, type in: cmd and press Enter.
At the prompt type each command below and press Enter after each.
**Note: Command noted by =, Space noted by ^. Do not type the = or ^.

=ping ^ 192.168.1.1 *Routers IP, change as necessary.
If it times out then there is no communication between the router and machine.
If not then the machine communicates with the router.

=ping ^ google.com
If it times out then there is no connection to the net.
If not then net connection is established and all is well.

ping 127.0.0.1
If it fails it may be a TCP/IP stack problem.

Ping each computer from the other using the UNC:
=ping ^ computername
If it fails either way there's an IP or Name resolution problem.

If pinging times out on any address, check if the machines IP is correct along
with other settings.
= ipconfig ^ /all
If anything isn't correct, at the prompt type and press Enter after each
command:

=ipconfig ^ /release
=ipconfig ^ /flushdns
=ipconfig ^ /renew
=ipconfig ^ /registerdns
=exit
If that fails reopen the command prompt, run /release and /flushdns only and
exit.

Shut down the machine(s).
Pull the power from the router.
Pull the power from the modem.
Wait approx 30 secs.
Apply power to the modem and wait for it to finish synchronizing with the cable.
Apply power to the router and wait for it to finish synchronizing with the
modem.
Power up the machine(s).
The machine(s) should now be assigned a new IP from the router.
Run ipconfig or attempt net connection to test.


--


Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375