Network Setup Wizard

[Craig]

Hello all;

I have two computers I'm trying to network. The laptop is
running XP Pro and is connected driectly to a router. The
desktop is running XP Home and is also connected directly
to the router. Both machines work well with the Internet,
so I don't suspect a problem with the router.

I was able to use Network Wizard to create a home network
with the laptop. After the network was created, I was
able to use Windows Explorer to "see" the laptop on the
the network including any shared files and printers.

Now comes the problem. When I try to connect the desktop
to the netwok using Network Wizard on that machine,
Windows Explorer on either machine CANNOT see or find the
desktop. Apparantly, Network Wizard on the desktop did
not work properly for some reason.

Can anyone help??

Craig

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Try:

1. Make sure the firewall is not enabled on the XP Pro machine.

2. Make sure both computers are in the same workgroup - System
properties/Computer name tab.

3. Create a user account on the XP Pro machine.which matches the user name
and password used to log onto the XP Home machine. If you don't use a
password in XP Home, create one or we'll have to change more settings.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Craig]

Thanks for the reply, Doug.

1. Firewalls on both machines are disabled.

2. Both computers are in same workgroup - confirmed.

3. User acct established on XP Pro machine that is
identical to user on XP Home machine.

Craig

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

Ok, we need to determine whether this is just a browsing issue or something
more:

1. On the XP Pro machine open a command prompt and type ipconfig ENTER.

2. Write down the machine's IP address, type exit ENTER.

3. On the XP Home machine, open a command prompt and type ping
<XP'sIPaddress> ENTER.

4. If you get a response with no packet loss, we know there is
connectivity. If ping fails, there is a firewall or problem with TCP/IP
configuration.

5. If ping worked, then on the XP Home machine click Start Run;

\\<XPproIPaddress>\c$

You should either get an Explorer window showing the files on the XP Pro's
C: drive or a logon window. If you get the logon window, enter an XP PRo
adminstrator's user name and password. If instead of the above, you get an
error message, the XP Pro machine is not creating administrative shares. On
the XP Pro machine, go to Administrative Tools/Services and try restarting
the Server service. Check Event Viewer for error.

Report back.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Guest]

Hi Doug,

4. I pinged the XP Pro machine from the XP Home machine --
pinged ok with no packet loss.

5. \\<XP Pro's IP Address>\c$ returned the C: drive
directory in a Windows Explorer window. I was able to
move a file from the XP Pro machine to the XP Home
machine, however, using the Windows Explorer on the XP
Home machine, I still cannot "see" the XP Pro machine.

Thanks again for your help.

Craig

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

OK, we have connectivity and we can access shared resources.

Let's see if we have name resolution:

1. On XP Home, try Start Run: \\XPprocomputername\c$

If this works, we have name resolution.

2. If #1 did not work, does the XP Pro machine have a long name or a name
with unusual characters? If not, on XP Pro, open a command prompt and try:

'net stop browser' then 'net start browser'

wait a few minutes and try \\XPprocomputername\c$ on the XP Home machine
again.

3. If #1 worked, but you still cannot see the XP pro machine in My Network
Places, try:

'net stop browser' then 'net start browser' wait a few minutes and try
again

Let us know the results.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Craig]

1. This step failed with the message 'network path not
found'.

2a. The XP Pro computer name is 10 characters long, all
letters. 'Net stop browser' and 'net stop browser'
performed successfully.

2b. Same result as in step 1. above.

3. Same result as in steps 2a and 2b above.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

OK, your computer name sounds fine, and the problem is name resolution -
most likely browsing will be fine once this is resolved. Let's see if we
get lucky:

1. Go to Network connections and double click on your Local Area Connection
(if you have more than one of these, please advise). Click the Properties
button. You should only have the following components installed and all the
boxes should be checked:
Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing, (maybe) QoS, and
TCP/IP

If anything else is installed, please advise.

2. Highlight TCP/IP and click the Properties button. Click the Advanced
button and select the WINS tab. Either Default or Enable NetBIOS should be
selected. If Disable NetBIOS was selected, that is the problem.

3. If #1 and #2 are OK, go to Administrative Tools/Services. Make sure the
TCP/IP NetBIOS helper service is started.

4. If you have not already done so, create a shared folder or drive in
Windows Explorer.

5. Reboot. If name resolution still fails, go to Administrative
Tools/Event Viewer and report any recent errors in the System and
Application logs.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[Craig]

Doug,

Thank you very much ... Disable NetBIOS was selected.
After I selected Enable NetBIOS and rebooted, the XP Home
computer works as expected.

I appreciate the time you have taken to walk me through
this problem.

Thanks again !!!

Craig Schmoyer
cwschmoyer AT cszip DOT com

 

[Guest]

Incorrect email address in previous post.


Craig Schmoyer
cwschmoyer AT csziplaw DOT com

 

[James Egan]

2. Highlight TCP/IP and click the Properties button. Click the Advanced
button and select the WINS tab. Either Default or Enable NetBIOS should be
selected. If Disable NetBIOS was selected, that is the problem.

Can you explain why it's the problem, please.?

I know it resolved his problem, but I thought netbios was only
required if the LAN contained win9x, winme or winnt machines.

As both his machines are winxp, shouldn't they have been able to share
files via port 445 using smb directly over tcp/ip without the need for
netbios?


Jim.

 

[Doug Sherman [MVP]]

There are 3 related, but separate issues involved:

1. File Sharing: Craig was able to share files and he successfully did so
without NetBIOS by connecting to the IP address of the machine.

2. Name Resolution: In order to connect to or share files with a computer
by using its name, there must be some mechanism in place on the network
which translates names into IP addresses. In a properly configured Active
Directory domain environment all machines will have a local DNS server
available, so computer names can be resolved to IP addresses regardless of
whether NetBIOS is enabled. In a peer to peer environment without a local
DNS server (you could install one if you wanted to), you can use NetBIOS
broadcasts to resolve computer names to IP addresses. If you don't have DNS
and you don't have NetBIOS, you could use a hosts file - but if you don't
have that either, then there is no way for computers to find each other by
name.

3. Browsing: Browsing requires NetBIOS period. Even if computers
exclusively use DNS or hosts files to resolve computer names to IP
addresses, they will not be able to browse (My Network Places, Windows
Explorer, etc.) unless NetBIOS is enabled.

Doug Sherman
MCSE Win2k/NT4.0, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

 

[James Egan]

3. Browsing: Browsing requires NetBIOS period. Even if computers
exclusively use DNS or hosts files to resolve computer names to IP
addresses, they will not be able to browse (My Network Places, Windows
Explorer, etc.) unless NetBIOS is enabled.

Okay. I thought winxp was different to earlier os's for browsing but
it appears it's the same.

Thanks.


Jim.