help & advice please - laptop-desktop connection

[KRK]

Hello,

I have a friend who has a small business. She & 2 others share a desktop PC
(windows XP). I assume its files are 'shared' but am not certain.

Until recently she was able to use her own laptop to access, edit, save, &
print files stored on the desktop. No cables are involved so I assume it has
a wireless connection.

Suddenly she can no longer access the desktop's files & has asked me for
help. I know little or nothing about wireless connections or shared files.

Can someone advise me what might have happened & what to look for please ?

Thanks

KK

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a friend who has a small business. She & 2 others share a
desktop PC (windows XP). I assume its files are 'shared' but am not
certain.
Until recently she was able to use her own laptop to access, edit,
save, & print files stored on the desktop. No cables are involved
so I assume it has a wireless connection.

Suddenly she can no longer access the desktop's files & has asked
me for help. I know little or nothing about wireless connections or
shared files.
Can someone advise me what might have happened & what to look for
please ?

Truthfully - with as little information as we have - nothing would be
certain.

You would need to know *how* your friend connected to the desktop PC and
said 'shared files' stored on it. Did they use remote desktop, did they
simply map a shared folder, etc? If they used File and Printer sharing -
was it done using Simple File Sharing or through user accounts and passwords
with Simple File Sharing turned off? Can your friend still ping the desktop
IP - or has the desktop IP address changed? Are both systems wireless
(laptop/desktop)? If the mapping of a shared folder is done by ip address
rather than name - is it succesful? If they used remote desktop - same
question, different function...