in message
I have a laptop with win xp on and Im tryna network that with pc win 98.
however I have tried everything and it just isnt working. I get the workgroup
up fine, but when it comes down to the files that I need off the Laptop, I
just cant find them. The drives and folders are all shared, but I just dont
know where I've gone wrong.
Can anyone help me?
Very common problem when trying to use "Microsoft Networking" between a
WinXP computer and a Win98 computer is the name of the workgroup assigned to
both. By default, WinXP has you enter the workgroup name in completely in
UPPERCASE. I don't believe you even have the option of using lowercase
workgroup names. However, by default Win98 has you entering the workgroup
name in lowercase. Workgroup names are case sensative and need to be
exactly the same. Fortunetly, you are able to change the workgroup name in
Win98 to all UPPERCASE. I've noticed that in Win98, sometimes a new
workgroup name (same as previous, but all in UPPERCASE) "doesn't take". If
the Win98 workgroup name is indeed in lowercase, try changing it to
something else, before changing it back to UPPERCASE. (I.e., if its
"workgroup" right now, change it to "x", then change it once again to
"WORKGROUP".) The case thing got me for an hour or so, but once I changed
the Win98 workgroup name to all UPPERCASE it immiedietly popped up on the
WinXP machine.
Failing that, check your protocols. The only protocol you need for
"Microsoft Client" and "File Sharing" is TCP/IP -- however, under TCP/IP
you'll need to ensure that "NetBios over TCP/IP" is enabled. (WinXP:
TCP/IP --> Properties --> Advanced --> WINS). Note that "Microsoft Client"
and "File Sharing" can also be carried with the NetBeui protocol as well,
however NetBeui isn't routable unless "encapsulated" in IPX. If you are
paranoid about file sharing under TCP/IP (and using a router), that is an
option as well. As I use the shared computers also for interneting, I'm
only using TCP/IP. (I'll "take my chances" in order to avoid all the
overhead with TCP/IP + Netbeui + IPX, etc).
Hope that helps.
Cheers! :^)
-ES
