Desktop sees Wireless laptop, but not other way around?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nathon Jones
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Nathon Jones

We've got a Desktop, a Wireless laptop and a Belkin ADSL Router.

Both machines can access the Internet, however when I run through the
"create a small office network" on both machines, we get to a situation
where the Desktop can view and access files on the laptop, but not the other
way around. "You do not have permission" or "speak to your administrator"
or some such message.

Both machines have Win XP installed and, to be honest, I've been here before
with networks....why (oh why!) can't this just be a simple procedure!

Any advice on what I should do? How do I allow both machines to communicate
with each other? Is there something obvious I should check? Should I just
keep running through the network setup wizard until I have some joy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Regards
nath.
 
Do you have firewall on Desktop? Also, can you ping the Desktop from laptop?

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
We've got a Desktop, a Wireless laptop and a Belkin ADSL Router.

Both machines can access the Internet, however when I run through the
"create a small office network" on both machines, we get to a situation
where the Desktop can view and access files on the laptop, but not the other
way around. "You do not have permission" or "speak to your administrator"
or some such message.

Both machines have Win XP installed and, to be honest, I've been here before
with networks....why (oh why!) can't this just be a simple procedure!

Any advice on what I should do? How do I allow both machines to communicate
with each other? Is there something obvious I should check? Should I just
keep running through the network setup wizard until I have some joy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Regards
nath.
 
We've got a Desktop, a Wireless laptop and a Belkin ADSL Router.

Both machines can access the Internet, however when I run through the
"create a small office network" on both machines, we get to a situation
where the Desktop can view and access files on the laptop, but not the other
way around. "You do not have permission" or "speak to your administrator"
or some such message.

Both machines have Win XP installed and, to be honest, I've been here before
with networks....why (oh why!) can't this just be a simple procedure!

Any advice on what I should do? How do I allow both machines to communicate
with each other? Is there something obvious I should check? Should I just
keep running through the network setup wizard until I have some joy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Regards
nath.
Click to expand...

Nath,

This problem, or many similar, can have many different causes. One of the most
common would be a misconfigured or overlooked personal firewall, or other
security component. There are several other possibilities too. Read this article
with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

Let's look at "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all" from each computer, so we
can diagnose the problem. Read this article, and linked articles, and follow
instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp
 
Hi Robert,

Thank you for your reply. I'm not terribly clued up on the "ping" thing, so
I've taken some advice from the howtonetworking.com web site address in your
footer. Thanks for the link!

We are using Windows Firewall on both machines, one, though, has McAfee, the
other AVG. I guess I'll try disabling the McAfee and AVG and see if they
are the culprits.

Can I ask about NetBios over TCP/IP and also LMHOSTS? What should the
default settings be for these checkboxes?
As mentioned, we have a laptop (connecting wirelessly to a Belkin ADSL
router), and a desktop PC hard wired into the router.
At one stage, the desktop could see, and share, the files within shared
folders on the laptop, but not the other way around.
We keep seeing error messages when we try to view either "Workgroup
Computer" about either device being "unaccessible" and "speak to your
administrator" or "you do not have permission"...what is the most common
cause of these errors?

If we can see a machine on the network in "Workgroup Computers" why would we
then not be able to access it? Why does windows show you it, if it isn't
accessible anyway? Frustrating! :o)

Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Regards
nath.

Do you have firewall on Desktop? Also, can you ping the Desktop from laptop?

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
We've got a Desktop, a Wireless laptop and a Belkin ADSL Router.

Both machines can access the Internet, however when I run through the
"create a small office network" on both machines, we get to a situation
where the Desktop can view and access files on the laptop, but not the other
way around. "You do not have permission" or "speak to your administrator"
or some such message.

Both machines have Win XP installed and, to be honest, I've been here before
with networks....why (oh why!) can't this just be a simple procedure!

Any advice on what I should do? How do I allow both machines to communicate
with each other? Is there something obvious I should check? Should I just
keep running through the network setup wizard until I have some joy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Regards
nath.
 
Hi Bob.

Yes, I can ping the Desktop from the laptop, but not the other way around. I just get "Request timed out".
Is this a problem with the Desktop or Laptop then, based on that?

The Desktop has the following installed:
McAfee
WinPatrol
NetBlockade

The Laptop has the following:
AVG
WinPatrol

I disabled ALL of these on both machines, ran through the network setup wizard on both machines and, hey presto, it worked! BUT.....when you re-boot the machines all of these services come back on.

So....I disabled them all again, ran through the network setup wizard again, but this time it didn't work!! :o(
Incredibly frustrating.

Any advice on what to try next would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Regards
Nath.
Do you have firewall on Desktop? Also, can you ping the Desktop from laptop?

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
We've got a Desktop, a Wireless laptop and a Belkin ADSL Router.

Both machines can access the Internet, however when I run through the
"create a small office network" on both machines, we get to a situation
where the Desktop can view and access files on the laptop, but not the other
way around. "You do not have permission" or "speak to your administrator"
or some such message.

Both machines have Win XP installed and, to be honest, I've been here before
with networks....why (oh why!) can't this just be a simple procedure!

Any advice on what I should do? How do I allow both machines to communicate
with each other? Is there something obvious I should check? Should I just
keep running through the network setup wizard until I have some joy?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Regards
nath.
 
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