Networking nightmare

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I've got a new Sony Vaio that I'm trying to hook into my home wireless
network. The other machines work fine (one hardwired, one wireless), and to a
degree the Vaio does too. I get out to the internet fine (this message is an
indication,) but cannot connect to any of the machines in the home LAN.

I've run the trouble shooters...pretty much everything I can think of.
Still, MSHOME comes up empty and won't let me in (right down to a dialogue
that tells me to talk to myself- the admin). The computer is named properly
according to conventions, but I can't get to the network resources.

"My Network Places" is notably missing in the menus. Help. Please help.

I just wanna print.....
 
Dr. Tim Hillman said:
I've got a new Sony Vaio that I'm trying to hook into my home wireless
network. The other machines work fine (one hardwired, one wireless),
and to a degree the Vaio does too. I get out to the internet fine
(this message is an indication,) but cannot connect to any of the
machines in the home LAN.

I've run the trouble shooters...pretty much everything I can think of.
Still, MSHOME comes up empty and won't let me in (right down to a
dialogue that tells me to talk to myself- the admin). The computer is
named properly according to conventions, but I can't get to the
network resources.

"My Network Places" is notably missing in the menus. Help. Please
help.

I just wanna print.....
Click to expand...

It sounds like a misconfigured firewall. What firewall is on the Vaio?

Malke
 
Malke said:
It sounds like a misconfigured firewall. What firewall is on the Vaio?

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
Click to expand...

Thank you Malke. I feel like a fool. Generally I practice good security and
haven't run into much in the way- the Vaio came with Norton. The instant I
unistalled it, up the network came. System's running cleaner and faster.
(Unsolicited plug for Sony's hardware)

If you can, tell me why the firewall kept me out of my network. Is it
related to my being user of an unsecured network? There are still vagueries
in XP that escape me.

Thanks again.
 
Dr. Tim Hillman said:
Thank you Malke. I feel like a fool. Generally I practice good
security and haven't run into much in the way- the Vaio came with
Norton. The instant I unistalled it, up the network came. System's
running cleaner and faster. (Unsolicited plug for Sony's hardware)

If you can, tell me why the firewall kept me out of my network. Is it
related to my being user of an unsecured network? There are still
vagueries in XP that escape me.
Click to expand...

The firewall was doing its job. It didn't know you wanted to allow that
network. You had to tell it. Please don't run a Windows computer on any
network with Internet access without a firewall. If you have
uninstalled the Norton Firewall, make sure you have the Windows
Firewall that comes with SP2 enabled. You can click on the Exceptions
tab to allow file and printer sharing.

Your system is running better without Norton because Norton products are
bloated resource hogs. Most techs do not recommend Norton products,
including me. However, you *must* have a full-featured antivirus
installed and be using a firewall.

Malke
 
Thanks to both of you I was able to get my home office network. I washaving
the same problem and disabling the Norton firewall that came with my new Dell
did the trick. I am sticking to the Windows firewall exclusively.
 
Hello Malke, I've been following your post.
I have read so much about Norton Utils hogging the system and your comments
finally decided the issue for me.
Can you pls help me out with a couple of questions?
1. Norton2005 did not come cheap. I am reluctant to pay for another: have
heard that there are very reputable, licence-free AntiVirus software around.
Can you recommend one or two?

2. Is it possible to use Norton2005 AntiVirus only, (without the other
Utilities)?
Will this continue to hog the system too?

Appreciate your advise
 
I use Norton 2005 on many computers and support several networks that
also have it. None have ever reported it to be "hogging" the system. I
suspect it has to be something else.

Norton has always worked great, and never had the problems that have
been described here, at least for me and my clients. Maybe Malke's
clients are configured differently, but it has always worked like a champ.

Of course, Microsoft makes it easy for other vendors to integrate well
with Windows, especially if Microsoft has a competing product of their own.

I've found that unless you disable the Microsoft firewall, other
firewalls installed will have problems. It's an "us or them, but not
together" kind of thing. I'm *sure* it's not done intentionally....

At least, that's been my experience.
 
In Disguise said:
Of course, Microsoft makes it easy for other vendors to integrate well
with Windows, especially if Microsoft has a competing product of their own.

I've found that unless you disable the Microsoft firewall, other
firewalls installed will have problems. It's an "us or them, but not
together" kind of thing. I'm *sure* it's not done intentionally....

At least, that's been my experience.
Click to expand...

The Windows XP Service Pack 2 "Help and Support" program, in its
section on firewalls, specifically says that using more than one
firewall can cause problems. So be sure to disable Windows Firewall
if you use Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm, Sygate, etc.
--
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
 
Hello Malke, I've been following your post.
I have read so much about Norton Utils hogging the system and your comments
finally decided the issue for me.
Can you pls help me out with a couple of questions?
1. Norton2005 did not come cheap. I am reluctant to pay for another: have
heard that there are very reputable, licence-free AntiVirus software around.
Can you recommend one or two?
Click to expand...

Hi, Poltonis. I'm not Malke, but I'd like to chip in while we wait
for her reply.

I recommend these free antivirus programs for home users:

Avast! 4 Home Edition
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

AVG Free Edition
http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

Here's the antivirus program that I use on my own computers and
recommend for commercial users:

F-Prot for Windows
http://www.f-prot.com/products/corporate_users/win
--
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
 
Steve,

Comparing the Microsoft firewall to Norton, McAfee, etc., is akin to
comparing Notepad with a full-blown word processing program.

Best bet IMO, would be to disable the Microsoft-supplied generic
firewall and go with a commercial version. Having more than one
firewall doesn't necessarily cause problems - it's when you have
Microsoft's version in the mix that issues pop up.
 
In Disguise said:
Steve,

Comparing the Microsoft firewall to Norton, McAfee, etc., is akin to
comparing Notepad with a full-blown word processing program.

Best bet IMO, would be to disable the Microsoft-supplied generic
firewall and go with a commercial version. Having more than one
firewall doesn't necessarily cause problems - it's when you have
Microsoft's version in the mix that issues pop up.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't run any two software firewalls at the same time. Have you
done it successfully? If so, which ones?

My computers connect to the Internet through a home broadband router,
which acts as a hardware firewall, protecting them from undesired
incoming traffic from the Internet. I run the Windows Firewall on my
computers, with the exception enabled for File and Printer Sharing. I
don't use any commercial firewall.

Some people want a firewall program that blocks undesired outgoing
traffic from a computer to the Internet (from viruses, spyware, etc).
For that, you need a commercial firewall, since Windows Firewall
doesn't have that feature.

However, IMO, an alert from a firewall that there's undesired outgoing
traffic is too little, too late. The computer has already been badly
compromised before the alert occurs.
--
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
 
Hello Steve - apologies for not acknowledging your answer to my request to
Malke (somehow my "notify me of replies" failed - only saw your answer today
by chance.)
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
 
Hello Steve - apologies for not acknowledging your answer to my request to
Malke (somehow my "notify me of replies" failed - only saw your answer today
by chance.)
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Click to expand...

You're welcome, Poltonis.

Are you using the web-based interface to the Microsoft news groups?
If so, I understand how hard it can be to find replies to a message.
I recommend using an NNTP news reader program, like Agent or Outlook
Express, instead. This web page has more information:

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];newswhelp
--
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
 
Steve Winograd said:
You're welcome, Poltonis.

Are you using the web-based interface to the Microsoft news groups?
If so, I understand how hard it can be to find replies to a message.
I recommend using an NNTP news reader program, like Agent or Outlook
Express, instead. This web page has more information:

How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];newswhelp
--
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
Click to expand...
I will try Outlook Express and follow your suggested link.

Regards
Poltonis
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