Problem accessing new Workgroup

[Guest]

I am trying to set up the simplest form of printer and file sharing between
two home computers. Both are running Windows XP Home edition Service Pack 2.
The computers both connect to the internet via a cable connection. The
cable connection connects to a Netgear router which is ethernet cable
connected to the upstairs computer. The downstairs computer connects via a
Linksys wireless adapter. This wireless connectivity is working fine.

Finally getting around to trying to share fies and printers, I recently ran
the XP Network Setup Wizard on both computers. I created a workgroup called
"HOME" and named each computer with simple (<10 characters) different names.

I went to Printers and Faxes and shared the printer associated with each
computer.

When I go to My Network Places and View Workgroup Computers -
(1) from the upstairs computer I can see both computers
(2) from the downstairs computer I get the message "HOME is not accessible.
You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the
administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The
list of servers for this workgroup is not currently avaiable."

Nowhere in this process have I been instructed to give permission or create
a password, yet it seems as if I somehow need to log-on to the workgroup from
the downstairs computer, where I get the error message. Obviously I am not
network savvy. Advice or further direction will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Malke]

I am trying to set up the simplest form of printer and file sharing
between
two home computers. Both are running Windows XP Home edition Service Pack
2.
The computers both connect to the internet via a cable connection. The
cable connection connects to a Netgear router which is ethernet cable
connected to the upstairs computer. The downstairs computer connects via a
Linksys wireless adapter. This wireless connectivity is working fine.

Finally getting around to trying to share fies and printers, I recently
ran
the XP Network Setup Wizard on both computers. I created a workgroup
called "HOME" and named each computer with simple (<10 characters)
different names.

I went to Printers and Faxes and shared the printer associated with each
computer.

When I go to My Network Places and View Workgroup Computers -
(1) from the upstairs computer I can see both computers
(2) from the downstairs computer I get the message "HOME is not
accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource.
Contact the
administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently avaiable."

Nowhere in this process have I been instructed to give permission or
create a password, yet it seems as if I somehow need to log-on to the
workgroup from
the downstairs computer, where I get the error message. Obviously I am
not
network savvy. Advice or further direction will be greatly appreciated.

(snip)

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. When you ran the
Network Setup Wizard on all computers, it turned 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. You probably do have a third-party firewall,
however. You need to 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 or Media Center:

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

Malke

 

[Guest]

(snip)

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. When you ran the
Network Setup Wizard on all computers, it turned 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. You probably do have a third-party firewall,
however. You need to 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 or Media Center:

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

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

Continuing to read in these forums I saw PChuck's advice to run Browstat:
It returns: Quote

Status for domain HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{E53C226B-9053-47D7-87D7
-11FC16B73CDB}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master browser name is held by: DELLE510
Could not connect to registry, error = 53
Unable to determine build of browser master: 53

Endquote. DELLE510 is the upstairs computer. I did neglect to mention that
I run ZoneAlarm and Norton Antivirus.

 

[Guest]

Continuing to read in these forums I saw PChuck's advice to run Browstat:
It returns: Quote

Status for domain HOME on transport
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{E53C226B-9053-47D7-87D7
-11FC16B73CDB}
Browsing is NOT active on domain.
Master browser name is held by: DELLE510
Could not connect to registry, error = 53
Unable to determine build of browser master: 53

Endquote. DELLE510 is the upstairs computer. I did neglect to mention that
I run ZoneAlarm and Norton Antivirus.

Making some progress. By adding the 192.168.1.x range to the Zone Alarm
trusted zone on both computers, the "HOME is not accessible" message is gone.
Now I can see the HOME Lan and the downstairs computer via View Workgroup
Computers. However I still cannot see the upstairs computer from downstairs.
I can now, however, ping it successfully from downstairs, which I could not
before.