IP Addresses On LANs

[jaygreg]

The LAN I set up a few years ago had 3 machines connected; a Windows XP HE,
a WIN98SE, and a WIN95. I had to reformat the XP HE so I switched operating
systems to XP Professional and attempted to reconnect to my old network.
That was about four days ago and I still not online with the LAN. I read
someone advising another to ping their machines as a test. I get a response
when the last two ping one another but neither can ping the XP machine. I
may have erred if I used the network wizard on the XP after the reformat (I
gone through so many checks they're all running together). I do remember a
workgroup being created simply called "Workgroup" which I changed to match
the one linking the other two machines. I don't think I was successful
because - though the XP machine does show up under the workgroup with the
name change - it doesn't show the other two machines. Likewise, neither of
the other two machines can see the XP machine.

When I ran the ping tests, I recorded the IP Addresses and Default Gateway
info of all three machines. The XP machine seems to clearly be off by itself
with an IP address that's significantly than the other two which are off
from one another but two digits. Both of these two have the same default
gateway address. The XP is different.

Am I finally on to discovering the root cause of my problem by this
observation or am I barking up the wrong tree? Would apprecate some
guidance please. At this point it looks like I may have to undo what I did
but I don't know how to remove the connection. I also noted while recording
the addresses that the WIN95 and 98SE info were preceded with a line simply
designating that which followed by "Ethernet Adapter" while the line for the
XP machine read "Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection". Although I didn't
fully understand all the implications, I recall seeing two types of setups
for internet connection; on public and one private. I don't know if that
enters into this issue as a factor or not at this point.

Any help anyone gives will be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

if the xp machine can talk to both win98 95 machine then Check for firewall
settings on the xp machine which is preventing other mahines to communicate.

 

[jaygreg]

Sorry, Kiran. I got so wrapped up in that IP Address difference I forgot to
make it clear that the XP failed the ping test; timed out. It can't ping the
other two and the other two can't ping it. What's this mean?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

The LAN I set up a few years ago had 3 machines connected; a Windows
XP HE, a WIN98SE, and a WIN95. I had to reformat the XP HE so I
switched operating systems to XP Professional and attempted to
reconnect to my old network.

So are they all running XP now? (I'd recommend it!)

That was about four days ago and I still
not online with the LAN. I read someone advising another to ping
their machines as a test. I get a response when the last two ping one
another but neither can ping the XP machine. I may have erred if I
used the network wizard on the XP after the reformat (I gone through
so many checks they're all running together). I do remember a
workgroup being created simply called "Workgroup" which I changed to
match the one linking the other two machines. I don't think I was
successful because - though the XP machine does show up under the
workgroup with the name change - it doesn't show the other two
machines. Likewise, neither of the other two machines can see the XP
machine.

If they're in the same workgroup, and NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled in each
computer's TCP/IP properties, they should show up...

When I ran the ping tests, I recorded the IP Addresses and Default
Gateway info of all three machines. The XP machine seems to clearly
be off by itself with an IP address that's significantly than the
other two which are off from one another but two digits. Both of
these two have the same default gateway address. The XP is different.

In a command prompt on the XP pc, type

ipconfig /all >c:\<filename>.txt - you could use myip.txt or something....

On Win9x PCs, I'm not sure if that works. But you could try it.

Am I finally on to discovering the root cause of my problem by this
observation or am I barking up the wrong tree? Would apprecate some
guidance please. At this point it looks like I may have to undo what
I did but I don't know how to remove the connection. I also noted
while recording the addresses that the WIN95 and 98SE info were
preceded with a line simply designating that which followed by
"Ethernet Adapter" while the line for the XP machine read "Ethernet
Adapter Local Area Connection".

Not relevant; XP does this differently. It's just a name. You could call it
"Fred" if you wished.

Although I didn't fully understand
all the implications, I recall seeing two types of setups for
internet connection; on public and one private.
?

I don't know if that
enters into this issue as a factor or not at this point.

Any help anyone gives will be appreciated.

You might check out www.wown.com and www.practicallynetworked.com for some
help setting up your workgroup.

You need to be able to ping each computer by IP address successfully before
anything else....then it's a matter of making sure you can browse\see the
computers by name. Try disabling the Windows Firewall on the XP box for the
time being - or whatever firewall software you may be running.

 

[jaygreg]

So are they all running XP now? (I'd recommend it!)<<

No. And if I set up the XP as the host as one set of instructions stated,
I'd add XP network tools to the WIN98SE machine... but the WIN95 machine
would be excluded; it apparently won't run on the 95. In anyevent, the
entire network was running fine under XP HE prior to my reformat so I know
it's possible... unless there's something specific in XP Professional that
precludes it.
each computer's TCP/IP properties, they should show up...<<

Could you give me a little more instructions about checking this. Where
specifically will I find it? I'm fairly sure I've check this but don't
remember anything called NetBios; TCP/IP "Yes" but NetBios "No".

It doesn't ... but I found the command. "winpcnfg" I believe.
it "Fred" if you wished.<<

Good!. Another thing to eliminate. I'll checkthe other references as well.


"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Aloha jaygreg,

What are the IP addresses of each machine?

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr - MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

 

[jaygreg]

Hi Ben! The WIN95 is 192.168.0.5, the WIN98SE 192.168.0.4, and the XP Pro
192.15.100

The first two can see each other under the Workgroup Greg but the XP stands
alone - also under a workgroup called Greg - but can't see nor be seen nor
ping the other two.

I really appreciate your help, Ben.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Aloha jaygreg,

There seems to be a number missing from the IP address of the XP Pro machine.
I'm guessing it's a 168 between the 192. and the .15. In any case that's
most likely your problem. I'm guessing your subnet mask is 255.255.255.0
in which case the first two machines are on a different logical subnet from
the third. If the first two machines are getting their addresses automatically
(DHCP) from your router perhaps, then you should set the XP Pro machine to
get it's address automatically too.

If their addresses are statically assigned then you should statically assign
the XP Pro machine with an address on the 192.168.0.x subnet, for example
192.168.0.6 would make sense in your scheme.

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr - MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

 

[jaygreg]

Sorry Ben. You guessed right.; I did leave out a 168 right where you
suspected it should be. I really appreciate this. I've been hitting my head
against a wall for three days on this.
from your router perhaps, then you should set the XP Pro machine to get it's
address automatically too. <<

I'm almost certain this is DHCP but I need some instructions. Where do I go
to verify that then how do I set the XP to be the same?

 

[jaygreg]

Update! The XP address is assigned by DHCP. I used the Support tab of the
Local Area Connection Status window and found:

Address Type: Assigned by DHCP
IP Address: 192.168.15.100

But... I don't know where to go to reset this so it joins the subnet of the
other two.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Aloha jaygreg,

In the Local Area Connections Status Window do you see a Properties button?
If you click it hopefully you'll get a window that includes, towards the
bottom, the protocols that are enabled for that network adapter. Select
"Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" (or something like that) and click Properties.
On the very first screen it should let you manually assign an IP address,
subnet mask and default gateway.

Make sure the IP address is unique (192.168.0.6 would probably be good),
and make sure the default gateway and subnet mask is the same as the other
two machines.

You should probably read this article: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question549.htm
for a quick primer on IP addressing.

For a more detailed instruction on IP Addressing this is a good read: http://www.bergen.org/ATC/Course/InfoTech/Coolip/

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr - MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm