Connecting computers wirelessly

[Bill Ridgeway]

I have a desktop computer and a laptop computer. Both will connect into the
Internet via a wireless router. Is it possible for each computer to be able
to 'see' the other computer wirelessly and, if so, would it be possible to
connect the computers wirelessly? If so,a link to a "how to do" would be
appreciated.

Both computers have Windows XP (one Home, one Professional) SP3.

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

 

[Malke]

I have a desktop computer and a laptop computer. Both will connect into
the
Internet via a wireless router. Is it possible for each computer to be
able to 'see' the other computer wirelessly and, if so, would it be
possible to
connect the computers wirelessly? If so,a link to a "how to do" would be
appreciated.

Both computers have Windows XP (one Home, one Professional) SP3.

You're talking about doing file/printer sharing on a Local Area Network. The
fact that the computers connect to the LAN (through the router) wirelessly
is irrelevant. Whether they connect wired (ethernet) or wirelessly, it's
all the same LAN.

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 with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, 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. 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.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances,
certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside
of this response.

Malke

 

[Twayne]

Malke,

That's a good post; clear and concise. I've no intention of hijacking
this thread; I think my question may apply to the OP also, so decided
I'd just jump in. I can repost & start a new thread if you or the OP
object.

Since I'm having similar issues, one part of your post confused me so
I'm asking for clarification.

You said :
" ... and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords

on all Workgroup machines; ... "

Which I don't, and never have had, over the life of my wired home LAN
(around 3 years). The Workgroup name of course is the same on all
machines, but my XP account and sign on password on each machine are
different. Which seems logical to me, especially since each machine
isn't mine - e.g. there's mine, my wife's and a workshop machine. Each
is assigned to the workgroup "HomeLan" and the wired LAN works fine.
All I'm trying to do is switch the workshop machine to wireless.
It sees the signal, but cannot connect, leaving a simple message that
maybe the signal is too weak, refresh and try again. The signal is
always strong (it's a laptop in the same room right now). No
indications I can find of firewall or 3rd party interference. I'd
expect the wired machines and wireless machine to have similar problems
if it were firewall related anyway?

So ... I either misinterpret your meaning, don't understand what you
said, or wireless seems to want something that wired doesn't need;
namely the same accounts and passwords in each machine destined to
become wireless and the machine it wirelesses to.

Assuming I've made any sense describing the situation here, does it seem
to you that I am properly interpreting your meaning/explanation? Or is
there a difference between wired/wireless that I'm maybe not aware of?

Like I said, no intention to hijack here, so if this isn't a simple
answer, I'll repost to start a new thread.

Regards,

Twayne

You're talking about doing file/printer sharing on a Local Area
Network. The fact that the computers connect to the LAN (through the
router) wirelessly is irrelevant. Whether they connect wired
(ethernet) or wirelessly, it's all the same LAN.

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

 

[Malke]

Malke,

That's a good post; clear and concise. I've no intention of hijacking
this thread; I think my question may apply to the OP also, so decided
I'd just jump in. I can repost & start a new thread if you or the OP
object.

Since I'm having similar issues, one part of your post confused me so
I'm asking for clarification.

You said :
" ... and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords

Which I don't, and never have had, over the life of my wired home LAN
(around 3 years). The Workgroup name of course is the same on all
machines, but my XP account and sign on password on each machine are
different. Which seems logical to me, especially since each machine
isn't mine - e.g. there's mine, my wife's and a workshop machine. Each
is assigned to the workgroup "HomeLan" and the wired LAN works fine.
All I'm trying to do is switch the workshop machine to wireless.
It sees the signal, but cannot connect, leaving a simple message that
maybe the signal is too weak, refresh and try again. The signal is
always strong (it's a laptop in the same room right now). No
indications I can find of firewall or 3rd party interference. I'd
expect the wired machines and wireless machine to have similar problems
if it were firewall related anyway?

You probably have all XP Home boxen, which is why having different user
accounts doesn't affect your sharing. XP Home only connects as Guest.

As for your other issues, yes please make a new post and include all
information about your hardware, etc.

Malke

 

[Bill Ridgeway]

Many thanks Malke

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway

You're talking about doing file/printer sharing on a Local Area Network.
The
fact that the computers connect to the LAN (through the router) wirelessly
is irrelevant. Whether they connect wired (ethernet) or wirelessly, it's
all the same LAN.

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 with "Internet Worm
Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, 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. 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.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging
a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some
instances,
certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is
outside
of this response.

Malke