Home Networking Problem

[Guest]

I have 2 computers: CPU-DESKTOP and CPU-LAPTOP.
I want to be able to access the CPU-DESKTOP's hard drive on the CPU-LAPTOP
and vice-versa.
Right now I can view the CPU-DESKTOP hard drive when I am on the laptop.
However, I can NOT view the CPU-LAPTOP hard drive when I am on the desktop.
I ran the network setup wizard for both computers and selected the same
information.
Both are connected to the Internet through a wireless router.
Both have the same workgroup name.

Why can I access the hard drive only one way?
Please e-mail me at (e-mail address removed) with any advice. I rarely check my
hotmail account.

 

[newtechie]

If you have a firewall on laptop make sure you have it set up to receive
traffic from the desktop IP address.

 

[Guest]

Thank You. I had the firewall removed from the desktop but I forgot to remove
it from the desktop.

 

[newtechie]

You're welcome!

Thank You. I had the firewall removed from the desktop but I forgot to
remove
it from the desktop.

 

[Guest]

I may get roommates. I do not want them to be able to access my shared hard
drives. I read that if I named the shared drive with Drive$, then it is not
shown in "View Workgroup Computers" in My Network Places. The '$' hides the
shared drive. The only way to access it is to know the actual name. This
worked. From my laptop I can not view the desktop's hard drive. However, even
when I type in the exact path, I am asked for a User Name and Password. The
problem is that I never set a User Name and Password to protect the desktop
hard drive, so I do not know what to enter. Why does my laptop think it does
not have access to the shared hard drive or why does my desktop ask for a
User Name and Password?

 

[Chuck]

I may get roommates. I do not want them to be able to access my shared hard
drives. I read that if I named the shared drive with Drive$, then it is not
shown in "View Workgroup Computers" in My Network Places. The '$' hides the
shared drive. The only way to access it is to know the actual name. This
worked. From my laptop I can not view the desktop's hard drive. However, even
when I type in the exact path, I am asked for a User Name and Password. The
problem is that I never set a User Name and Password to protect the desktop
hard drive, so I do not know what to enter. Why does my laptop think it does
not have access to the shared hard drive or why does my desktop ask for a
User Name and Password?

File Sharing between 2 Windows computers is a lot of fun. When you have Windows
XP, you need to observe whether its' XP Home or Pro. If Pro, are you running
Simple or Advanced File Sharing? If Advanced, are you using Guest or non-Guest
authentication? And make sure whatever you use, that it's properly activated,
and uses a consistent password policy.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/file-sharing-under-windows-xp.html

 

[Guest]

Hi Chuck,

I took a look at the sites you sent. I learned more about things but was not
able to implement what I wanted in the end. This may require a more-detailed
walk-through, if you have the time and patience.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Chuck]

Hi Chuck,

I took a look at the sites you sent. I learned more about things but was not
able to implement what I wanted in the end. This may require a more-detailed
walk-through, if you have the time and patience.

Thanks for your help.

I got the patience, if you got the persistence. Ask about what you're unsure
of.

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Sorry for disappearing on you. In the process of explaining things to you
and doing a few testcases, I accidentally solved the problem. Then I tried to
re-create the problem and I couldn't do it. Quite frustrating!

Here is a different question, though.

I am performing a search for files on my desktop from my laptop. As the
laptop is searching the hard drive over the network, my wireless connection
always dies. Why would this happen? I would think that if anything, the
search would go slower as packets are being shared over multiple computers.
But the wireless network completely dies on my laptop.

 

[Chuck]

Hi,

Sorry for disappearing on you. In the process of explaining things to you
and doing a few testcases, I accidentally solved the problem. Then I tried to
re-create the problem and I couldn't do it. Quite frustrating!

Here is a different question, though.

I am performing a search for files on my desktop from my laptop. As the
laptop is searching the hard drive over the network, my wireless connection
always dies. Why would this happen? I would think that if anything, the
search would go slower as packets are being shared over multiple computers.
But the wireless network completely dies on my laptop.

OK, it's good that you solved your first problem. So let's look at the new
problem.

Please define "wireless connection always dies". Do you lose connectivity both
ways, desktop to laptop and laptop to desktop? Do you lose Internet
connectivity only with the laptop? How do you recover connectivity?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/background-information-useful-in.html
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/08/solving-network-problems-tutorial.html