Network XP Pro to XP Home - Direct cable

[Guest]

I have 2 PC's. One is running XP Pro SP2 and the other is running XP Home
SP2. I have a direct link between them via a crossover network cable.

I can use VNC to remotely control one from the other and I can ping
successfully from DOS etc but I CAN NOT see shared folders or do any sort of
file sharing. I have been struggling with this most of today and am
desperate for some answers. Can anybody help please!

When I go to 'My Network Places' and view workgroup computers, I can not see
either of them. Both PCs are configured to use MSHOME workgroup...

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I have 2 PC's. One is running XP Pro SP2 and the other is running XP Home
SP2. I have a direct link between them via a crossover network cable.

I can use VNC to remotely control one from the other and I can ping
successfully from DOS etc but I CAN NOT see shared folders or do any sort of
file sharing. I have been struggling with this most of today and am
desperate for some answers. Can anybody help please!

When I go to 'My Network Places' and view workgroup computers, I can not see
either of them. Both PCs are configured to use MSHOME workgroup...

Run XP's Network Setup Wizard on both computers to fully enable file
sharing. Configure any firewall programs to allow access by other
computers on the local area network.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

I have run the network setup wizard over and over again on both PCs. Every
time I get the same result - I can not see shared folders or see the computer
from the other one. I have even made a network setup disk from one and run
it on the other, and vice versa, but still no joy. I have made sure both PCs
have the same login username and password. I have tried manually assigning
IP addresses to both computers, and also the 'Obtain IP address
automatically' settings.

I have also reinstalled the network drivers on both machines... I just don't
get what the problem is

I'm just about ready to tear my hair out!

 

[Jerry]

Mybe here http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/troubleshoot/ or here
http://www.careyholzman.com/netfixes.htm

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Mybe here http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/troubleshoot/ or here
http://www.careyholzman.com/netfixes.htm

I wrote the first site that you list, and I recommend it highly.

I've reviewed the second site that you list in detail. In my opinion,
that site is full of misinformation and isn't a reliable guide to
solving network problems.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

I forgot to mention a couple of things:

On the XP Home machine, when I 'view workgroup computers' it can 'see
itself' if that makes sense. I can click the Icon and browse it's own shared
resources but I noticed on the XP Pro machine, when I 'view workgroup
computers' it doesn't 'see itself' - the page is totally blank, even if I
'view entire network' and drill down into the workgroup.

Also worth mentioning that on both machines I am using only the Windows
Firewall. I do not use any other firewall software. As a last resort I have
tried disabling windows firewall on both systems, but still no joy.

 

[Malke]

I forgot to mention a couple of things:

On the XP Home machine, when I 'view workgroup computers' it can 'see
itself' if that makes sense. I can click the Icon and browse it's own
shared resources but I noticed on the XP Pro machine, when I 'view
workgroup computers' it doesn't 'see itself' - the page is totally
blank, even if I 'view entire network' and drill down into the
workgroup.

Also worth mentioning that on both machines I am using only the
Windows
Firewall. I do not use any other firewall software. As a last resort
I have tried disabling windows firewall on both systems, but still no
joy.

Do you have antivirus software that includes "Internet Worm Protection"
like Norton? I think McAfee has something like that too. That is a
firewall and will be enough to make your machines invisible. Do you
have any other security programs installed and running resident?
Anything from AOL or Yahoo?

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi Malke

I do not use Norton or McAffee but I DO use Avast antivirus home edition by
ALWIL software on both machines.

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke

I do not use Norton or McAffee but I DO use Avast antivirus home
edition by ALWIL software on both machines.

I don't think Avast has any firewall included, but check. Try this:

On the XP Pro box - if Simple Sharing is enabled, disable it and make a
user account/password on it to match the one on the XP Home box. Make
sure both boxen are *not* using blank passwords. You can always set
them to log in automatically for convenience if you like later. If
Simple Sharing is disabled, try enabling it. You will find the Simple
Sharing setting in Folder Options>View.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I'm confused - First you say disable 'Simple File Sharing' then you say
'Enable Simple File Sharing'! I have tried disabling 'Simple File Sharing'
on the XP Pro box, it has made no difference. I still can not see the XP Pro
box from the XP Home box or vice versa, however I can ping, VNC and share the
internet connection. I have tried totally disabling antivirus and windows
firewall on both boxes - still no joy.

 

[Malke]

I'm confused - First you say disable 'Simple File Sharing' then you
say
'Enable Simple File Sharing'! I have tried disabling 'Simple File
Sharing'
on the XP Pro box, it has made no difference. I still can not see the
XP Pro box from the XP Home box or vice versa, however I can ping, VNC
and share the
internet connection. I have tried totally disabling antivirus and
windows firewall on both boxes - still no joy.

On both machines I have only one User Account, the username and
password (and case) are identical on both boxes.

I was trying to tell you that whatever setting you had - try the other
one.

One more thing - is there a reason why you aren't doing this the easy
way and using a router? Are you sure both machines are in the same
subnet; i.e., 255.255.255.0?

Other than that, I'm sorry but without being able to see the computers
I'm out of ideas. Since you've been struggling with this so long, it
would probably be worthwhile to have a local professional come on-site
and take a look. Often someone who can actually see the machine will
immediately catch the error where people just reading about it online
won't be able to.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

Ahh right, sorry. Well I did indeed try both alternatives but to no avail.
I can confirm that both network cards are configured to the same subnet. I'm
not using a router for the simple reason I do not have one. The XP Home box
is not a permanent fixture, in fact I will be giving it to my mum as soon as
I've retrieved my old files from it (the XP Pro box is my new PC). The
crossover cable seemed the most cost effective solution for this task,
particularly as I have had one for several years! CD / DVD backup is not
appropriate as I have nearly 80MB of stuff I need to retrieve. I could
install the hard drive from the XP Home machine into the XP Pro machine as a
slave and back up that way, however this would invalidate the warranty of my
new system. GRRRRR!

What is most annoying is the fact that I have used the crossover cable
between the XP Home box and my works laptop (XP Pro SP2) several times in the
past to transfer large files from home to the office and vice versa and never
had any problems.

I hate windows Only Microsoft can make something so simple become so
difficult! I work with Solaris, AIX and Linux at work, it is so much simpler!

If anyone else can suggest anything, I would be very grateful.

 

[Malke]

Ahh right, sorry. Well I did indeed try both alternatives but to no
avail.
I can confirm that both network cards are configured to the same
subnet. I'm
not using a router for the simple reason I do not have one. The XP
Home box is not a permanent fixture, in fact I will be giving it to my
mum as soon as
I've retrieved my old files from it (the XP Pro box is my new PC).
The crossover cable seemed the most cost effective solution for this
task,
particularly as I have had one for several years! CD / DVD backup is
not
appropriate as I have nearly 80MB of stuff I need to retrieve. I
could install the hard drive from the XP Home machine into the XP Pro
machine as a slave and back up that way, however this would invalidate
the warranty of my new system. GRRRRR!

80MB? A cd holds 700MB. A single-layer dvd holds 4.3GB. Are you sure you
don't mean 80GB? If you only have 80MB for goodness' sake just burn a
cd-r. If you have 80GB, take the damn machine to a local shop and have
them pull the drive, slave it in one of their boxen, grab your data.
The whole process will take less than an hour.

Malke

 

[Guest]

I meant 80GB of course... I don't need a shop to pull out a hard-drive -
thats not the issue here. Like I said, I could install the old hard drive in
the new computer, it would take all of 2 minutes but that's not an option
because it would invalidate the warranty of my new PC.

Something I have noticed, though, is that despite the fact both PCs are
DEFINATELY configured to use the same WORKGROUP (not Domain), when I ping the
XP Pro machine by hostname from the XP Home machine, it pings successfully
but appends '.mshome.net' to the end of the hostname. This is surely
significant? I've not come across this before.

I have also since brought my works laptop (XP Pro SP2) home and connected it
via the crossover cable firstly to the XP Pro machine and then to the XP Home
machine to test. As suspected, connecting to the XP Home machine it works
fine - I can see the shared folders and transfer files etc with no problem.
When I connect the laptop to my new XP Pro machine, I get the same problem.
Network connectivity but can't see or access shared folders in either
direction. I am concluding from this that the problem lays with the
configuration of my new XP Pro machine...

Does anyone have any suggestions about the 'mshome.net' business?

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all that tried to help me with this problem. I have now fixed it -
The cause was Norton Internet Security (which I removed because I hate it).
It had corrupted the internal IP Stack - the cure was to reset the NetBios
settings and re-run the network setup wizard. I used the following command
from START > RUN:

netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

the file reference at the end is used if you want to create a log of the
registry keys that get changed by the command..

Hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem...