File and printer sharing problem

[Poisoned Pigeon]

I have a problem with my home network that I am trying to fix. I have a home
network of three computers, two desktops and one laptop. The laptop runs Xp
media edition and the desktops run xp home edition. The laptop and the
upstairs pc connect wirelessly to a router, the desktop downstairs connects
to the same router via an ethernet cable.
Up until recently I was able to file share on all three without problem and
the printer - connected to the desktop downstairs - was accessible to all
three. Then my wife ran a microsoft fix on the downstairs computer for zoo
tycoon and suddenly file sharing and printer sharing stopped. The computer is
still able to access the internet and I am able to remote control the
downstairs computer from either of the other two using vnc. I have switched
off the firewall (Norton Internet Security 2009) and tried reseting the file
sharing folders but nothing seems to work. I would appreciate any help that
can be offered.

 

[Jack-MVP]

Hi
I do not know what you mean by reset File Sharing.
Try try Disable the File and Printer Sharing. Then Reboot and configure
again File and printer Sharing from scratch.
Make sure that the Software Firewall on each computer allows free local
traffic. If you use 3rd party Firewall On, Vista/XP Native Firewall should
be Off, and the active Firewall has to adjusted to your Network IP numbers
on what is some time called the Trusted Zone (consult your 3rd Party
Firewall instructions.
General example, http://www.ezlan.net/faq#trusted
Windows XP File Sharing -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
Printer Sharing XP -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx
Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357
Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Poisoned Pigeon]

I have retried all that thanks, with the firewall completely disabled, and I
still cannot access the shared folders and printer from another computer.

Whenever I try accessing the files I get the message"You might not have
permission to use this network resource... Logon failure: the user has not
been granted the requested logon type at this computer." The printer has the
message "Access denied, unable to connect"

Reading the articles posted says that XP Home edition uses guest account for
file sharing. I have checked that the guest account is able to access the
shared folders and the printer on the Desktop.

Any other suggestions please?

Many Thanks