On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:13:04 -0800, ComputerTech, unofficial <ComputerTech,
Hi, my office just bought a new computer and will soon install a second and
as I am pretty much the computer tech, unofficially, I get to install them.
I'm good with these things but have encountered a problem with sharing the
fiels on the new computer with those on the network. I am able to access all
the computers on the network from the new one, but none of the older
computers are able to open up my computer. I have shared the files and hard
drive, and have gone through the Windows Troubleshooter on this with no luck.
I was wondering if anyone knows if there is an incompatibility with SP2 and
older versions of Windows, or if someone wants to offer up any ideas. I've
tried reinstalling the network on all computers with no luck, and I'm pretty
sure I've done what is needed for sharing files over the network... Can
anyone help?? Thanks
It would probably help if you were to describe the Operating system name,
version, and SP level of all the computers - file sharing between different
versions - and even different SP levels - is a bit tricky sometimes. More about
file sharing, between all different versions of Windows:
<
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...db-aef8-4bef-925e-7ac9be791028&DisplayLang=en>
Do any of the computers have a software firewall (ICF / WF, or third party)? If
so, you need to configure them for file sharing. Firewall configurations are a
very common cause of (network) browser, and file sharing, problems. With WF
(SP2) on the new computer, make sure the File and Printer Sharing exception is
enabled.
On any XP Pro computer, check to see if Simple File Sharing (Control Panel -
Folder Options - View - Advanced settings) is enabled or disabled. With XP Pro,
you need to have SFS properly set on each computer.
On XP Pro with SFS disabled, check the Local Security Policies (Control Panel -
Administrative Tools). Under Local Policies - Security Options, look at
"Network access: Sharing and security model", and ensure it's set to "Classic -
local users authenticate as themselves".
On XP Pro with SFS disabled, if you set the above Local Security Policy to
"Guest only", enable the Guest account, using Start - Run - "cmd" - type "net
user guest /active:yes" in the command window. If "Classic", setup and use a
common non-Guest account on all computers. Whichever account is used, give it
an identical, non-blank password on all computers.
On XP Home, and on XP Pro with Simple File Sharing enabled, make sure that the
Guest account is enabled, on each computer. Enable Guest with Start - Run -
"cmd", then type "net user guest /active:yes" in the command window.
On XP Pro, if you're going to use Guest authentication, check your Local
Security Policy (Control Panel - Administrative Tools) - User Rights Assignment,
on the XP Pro computer, and look at "Deny access to this computer from the
network". Make sure Guest is not in the list. Look at "Access this computer
from the network", and make sure that Everyone is in this list.
If this doen't help, provide an inventory of all computers on the LAN,
specifying operating system name, version, and SP level, to help us figure out
what we're up against.
IPConfig information for each computer would be most useful.
Start - Run - "cmd". Type "ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt" into the command
window - Open c:\ipconfig.txt in Notepad, make sure that Format - Word Wrap is
NOT checked!, copy and paste entire contents into your next post. Identify
operating system (by name, version, and SP level) with each ipconfig listing.
