John said:
I'm at the end of my tether with this laptop.
i am trying to setup home networking and have been at it for days now.
i am using a wireless network card trying to connect to my desktop that is
connected to the router via usb.
i can see and access the laptop from the desktop, but i can't see the
desktop on the laptop.
all my files for work are on the desktop, and i need to access them on
here.
please help and if possible, e-mail me direct.
Sorry, no free email support. Asked here, answered here for the benefit of
all.
Since I don't know what you've already done - and if you had previous
threads going you should have stayed in them so we'd have the history and
of the problem and the troubleshooting - here is my standard "network
problems" blurb.
This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. Run the Network
Setup Wizard on both computers, making sure to enable File & Printer
Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2
Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party firewall or have an
antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2005/06) which acts
as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have third-party firewall software,
configure it to allow the Local Area Network traffic as trusted. I usually
do this with my firewalls with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet.
If one or more of the computers is XP Pro:
a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.
b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the Simple
File Sharing enabled.
Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its resources.
This is a security hole but only you can decide if it matters in your
situation.
Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share folders
inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared
Documents folder.
If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network troubleshooter by
MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it and it will usually
pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
If you still can't get it even after taking the time to go through Mr.
Michna's troubleshooter, have a local professional come on-site and set you
up. It will not take long and certainly if you've been "at it for days"
will be worth it.
Malke
