First attempt at creating a homenetwork. Total disaster
We have 2 pcs and 2 laptops
My Laptop and PC (with Printer) use XP
My dads laptop (with Printer) uses windows 2000
My sisters PC uses Windows 98
I created a network on my laptop called Mshome and attempted to
connect each other computer to it. For various reasons (that I dont
understand) this did not work. So I tried again creating a network
called Home, this also did not work. For both these attempts I had
been using the home networking wizard on XP, then going to each other
computer and changing its workgroup name to Mshome then Home. Neither
of them work, and I cant seem to delete them.
How can i delete/remove these networks so that they no longer show up
in the network neighbourhood of the computers. So that I may start
again, and on that note how do I go about creating a home network?
Many thanks,
Phil
Mshome and Home are workgroups, not networks. A network is a group of
computers that are physically connected to each other, usually through
a hub, switch, or router.
A network can contain any number of workgroups, and computers in any
workgroup can access computers in any other workgroup. Workgroups
allow you to group related computers together for easier access in
Windows 98. Workgroups are obsolete in Windows 2000 and XP. Those
newer systems retain workgroups for compatibility with older systems.
There's no explicit way to delete a workgroup from Network
Neighborhood. If no computers belong to a workgroup, it will
eventually disappear on its own. Until then, just ignore it. It
can't cause any problems.
Without knowing anything about how you've wired and configured the
network, it's hard to say what's wrong. Here are some general tips
that should help. If they don't, please post another news group
message with complete details of your network setup:
1. If the computers run the original or SP1 versions of Windows XP,
disable XP's built-in Internet Connection Firewall on local area
network connections -- it's for use only on a direct modem connection
to the Internet. If they run SP2, enable the exception for file and
printer sharing in the Windows Firewall. Disable and un-install all
other firewall programs while troubleshooting. When un-installing a
firewall program, use the un-install procedure provided by the
manufacturer . Don't use Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs,
which might not completely un-install it.
For more information, see:
Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/ic_firewall.htm
2. Use only one protocol for File and Printer Sharing. If the network
needs more than one protocol, unbind File and Printer Sharing from all
but one of them. Details here:
Windows XP Network Protocols
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/network_protocols.htm
3. Make sure that NetBIOS over TCP/IP is enabled on all computers.
Details here:
Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP (NetBT)
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/troubleshoot/netbt.htm
4. Run "ipconfig /all" on XP and look at the "Node Type" at the
beginning of the output. If it says "Peer-to-Peer" (which should
actually be "Point-to-Point") that's the problem. It means that the
computer only uses a WINS server, which isn't available on a
peer-to-peer network, for NetBIOS name resolution.
If that's the case, run the registry editor, open this key:
HLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netbt\Parameters
and delete these values if they're present:
NodeType
DhcpNodeType
Reboot, then try network access again.
If that doesn't fix it, open that registry key again, create a DWORD
value called "NodeType", and set it to 1 for "Broadcast" or 4 for
"Mixed".
For details, see these Microsoft Knowledge Base articles:
Default Node Type for Microsoft Clients
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;160177
TCP/IP and NBT Configuration Parameters for Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314053
--
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