Problem with XP Pro and Home in same Network

[Guest]

I have 3 computers networked in a home environment in one workgroup. Two
desktop computers run XP Pro, SP 2, with classic file sharing. They both log
on with the same id and password. Sometimes, a laptop computer running XP
Home, SP 2 is also on the network. Logon to the XP Home laptop is with a
different id and password. The logon id and password of the XP Pro desktops
is defined as an account on the XP Home laptop, and the logon id and password
of the XP Home laptop is defined as an account on the XP Pro desktops.

When one of the XP Pro desktops is the master browser, the XP Home laptop
can see the XP Pro shares, both mapped and through My Network Places, but the
XP Pro desktops cannot see the XP Home shares through My Network Places. And,
I cannot map the shares of the XP Home laptop from a desktop. The XP Home
laptop can also see the XP Pro shares both ways when it is the master
browser, but then the XP Pro desktops cannot access the network at all
through My Network Places. The network cannot be found in this scenario. Each
desktop can access the mapped shares, though, of the other XP Pro desktop,
but they can’t map a new share because the network is not accessible.

When the XP Pro desktops use simple file sharing, then they can see the XP
Home laptop through My Network Places. But using simple file sharing with XP
Pro is not an option, since software I use that allows remote access of the
other desktop requires classic file sharing with a password.

Why can’t the XP Pro computers see the shares of the XP Home one? And, why
can’t the XP Pro computers access the network through My Network Places when
the XP Home computer is the master browser? I was able to resolve the latter
problem by setting a registry entry in the XP Home computer so that it can
never be the master browser, but that really shouldn’t be necessary, should
it? Does simple file sharing on one network computer require it on all
network computers to be able to see all computers through My Network Places?

Thanks for any help,
Bill

 

[Guest]

Yesterday I bought a Linksys WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway and a Wireless-G
adapter at Comet. I wanted to set up a wireless network for my laptops Soy
Vaio and top range Packard bell. I am on AOL Platinum and my operating
system is XP. I tried the quick set up - conection protocol - PPoA, VPI - 0,
VCI - 38. I even set up new screen name and remembered to use lower case for
name and password and included @aol.com afterscreen name. No joy! I phoned
the Linksys technical helpline and was on for 35 minutes but that didn't work
either and the technical assistant gave up on me. I have tried all day today
but still no joy. Sometimes I can get a network established but can't get
the internet. This is so frustrating. The wireless network (when
established is good but why oh why can't I get AOL or internet explorer?). I
am not an expert but am not completely computer illiterate. Can someone give
me step by step instructions as to how to set up a wireless network and get
AOL and iternet explorer. PLEASE
My e-mail address is (e-mail address removed)

 

[Chuck]

I have 3 computers networked in a home environment in one workgroup. Two
desktop computers run XP Pro, SP 2, with classic file sharing. They both log
on with the same id and password. Sometimes, a laptop computer running XP
Home, SP 2 is also on the network. Logon to the XP Home laptop is with a
different id and password. The logon id and password of the XP Pro desktops
is defined as an account on the XP Home laptop, and the logon id and password
of the XP Home laptop is defined as an account on the XP Pro desktops.

When one of the XP Pro desktops is the master browser, the XP Home laptop
can see the XP Pro shares, both mapped and through My Network Places, but the
XP Pro desktops cannot see the XP Home shares through My Network Places. And,
I cannot map the shares of the XP Home laptop from a desktop. The XP Home
laptop can also see the XP Pro shares both ways when it is the master
browser, but then the XP Pro desktops cannot access the network at all
through My Network Places. The network cannot be found in this scenario. Each
desktop can access the mapped shares, though, of the other XP Pro desktop,
but they can’t map a new share because the network is not accessible.

When the XP Pro desktops use simple file sharing, then they can see the XP
Home laptop through My Network Places. But using simple file sharing with XP
Pro is not an option, since software I use that allows remote access of the
other desktop requires classic file sharing with a password.

Why can’t the XP Pro computers see the shares of the XP Home one? And, why
can’t the XP Pro computers access the network through My Network Places when
the XP Home computer is the master browser? I was able to resolve the latter
problem by setting a registry entry in the XP Home computer so that it can
never be the master browser, but that really shouldn’t be necessary, should
it? Does simple file sharing on one network computer require it on all
network computers to be able to see all computers through My Network Places?

Thanks for any help,
Bill

Bill,

You ask a lot of questions in your problem report. And you also leave a few for
me to ask.

1) When the laptop is the master browser, do you know for a fact that both
desktops recognise that role? Have you run browstat on all 3 computers for both
cases (desktop as mb and laptop as mb)? Any observed differences when one or
the other desktop is the mb?

2) Is the Guest account enabled on the laptop for network access? IE., did you
execute "net user guest /active:yes" from the laptop?

3) Have you set restrictanonymous properly?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/restrictanonymous-and-enumeration-of.html>

4) How about a firewall problem?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>

5) Remembering that you can have a latency period of up to 51 minutes between
any actual change to the network, and that change being reflected in Network
Neighborhood, do you always wait a sufficient amount of time after making any
changes, before making an observation judging the results?

6) When the laptop is the (a?) master browser, what exactly do you mean by "the
XP Pro desktops cannot access the network at all through My Network Places"?

7) Whenever the laptop has both the browser service running, and the registry
setting to potentially become the mb set on, do you ever carry it out of range
or otherwise let it drop from the network then bring back onto the network
without restarting it as you're bringing it back? The laptop electing itself
mb, then reattaching to the network while mb, will cause most of these symptoms.

As I conclude in my article about the Windows Browser, it would be better if a
wireless computer never be a server, and certainly not a browser. Turning off
the browser service, and / or disabling the master browser role in the registry,
is not a bad start towards normalising your symptoms, so you can figure out the
cause of the other symptoms.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/04/nt-browser-or-why-cant-i-always-see.html#Prevent>

 

[Chuck]

Yesterday I bought a Linksys WAG54G Wireless-G ADSL Gateway and a Wireless-G
adapter at Comet. I wanted to set up a wireless network for my laptops Soy
Vaio and top range Packard bell. I am on AOL Platinum and my operating
system is XP. I tried the quick set up - conection protocol - PPoA, VPI - 0,
VCI - 38. I even set up new screen name and remembered to use lower case for
name and password and included @aol.com afterscreen name. No joy! I phoned
the Linksys technical helpline and was on for 35 minutes but that didn't work
either and the technical assistant gave up on me. I have tried all day today
but still no joy. Sometimes I can get a network established but can't get
the internet. This is so frustrating. The wireless network (when
established is good but why oh why can't I get AOL or internet explorer?). I
am not an expert but am not completely computer illiterate. Can someone give
me step by step instructions as to how to set up a wireless network and get
AOL and iternet explorer. PLEASE
My e-mail address is *email_address_deleted*

Ronnie,

Here are a few websites with useful tutorials on wireless networking:
http://www.cablesense.com/
http://www.homenethelp.com/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/
http://www.wown.com/

Please don't ask for help by email.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/how-to-post-on-usenet-and-encourage.html#Waiting>

Asked here, answered here. For everybody's benefit.

Is AOL your primary ISP, or are you getting BYOA? Connections for both differ.
I'm not sure that AOL supports use of a router.

Try and diagnose the problem. Is the router not connecting to AOL, or is your
computer unable to connect to the router? Are you connecting wirelessly to the
router to set it up (not a good idea). Have you tried doing the setup and
initial debugging while wired? Have you looked at the router activity logs to
see if it is ever connecting to AOL?

If not completely computer illiterate, have you considered getting Internet
service from another ISP? To quote another helper in another forum:

"If it hurts every time you poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick
(AOHELL), the obvious solution is to quit poking yourself in the eye with a
sharp stick (AOHELL).

If you absolutely MUST poke yourself in the eye with a sharp stick (AOHELL),
then feel free to seek assistance from the maker of the sharp stick (AOHELL)."

 

[Guest]

1) When the laptop is the master browser, do you know for a fact that both
desktops recognise that role? Have you run browstat on all 3 computers for
both cases (desktop as mb and laptop as mb)? Any observed differences when
one or the other desktop is the mb?
Answer: I did not run browstat, but when either of the desktops are the mb,
the network can be accessed successfully from within My Network Places. When
the laptop is the mb, the laptop can access the network from within My
Network Places, but the desktops cannot. In this case, I know the laptop is
the mb because it was the first computer on the network to be turned on. When
I stopped the computer browser service on the laptop, waited a minute, and
then restarted the service, it gave the desktops time to elect a new mb. Then
they were able to access the network.
2) Is the Guest account enabled on the laptop for network access? IE., did
you
execute "net user guest /active:yes" from the laptop?
Answer: The Guest account is enabled on all computers, and Everyone is given
full access to the shares.
3) Have you set restrictanonymous properly?
Answer: Restrictanonymous value is 0 on all 3 computers.
4) How about a firewall problem?
Answer: There is a hardware firewall in the wired router that connects the
computers to the network, and Kerio Personal Firewall running on each
computer. Disabling the software firewall makes no difference, so it cannot
be that.
5) Remembering that you can have a latency period of up to 51 minutes
between any actual change to the network, and that change being reflected in
Network Neighborhood, do you always wait a sufficient amount of time after
making any changes, before making an observation judging the results?
Answer: There is no latency on this network. On each computer, the lmhosts
file contains the ip addresses and name of each computer with #PRE, so that
upon bootup, they are loaded in the netbios name cache. “Enable LMHOSTS
lookup†is enabled in each computer.
6) When the laptop is the (a?) master browser, what exactly do you mean by
"the XP Pro desktops cannot access the network at all through My Network
Places"?
Answer: The message “MSHOME is not accessible. You may not have permission
to … etc., etc., etc.†is displayed.
7) Whenever the laptop has both the browser service running, and the registry
setting to potentially become the mb set on, do you ever carry it out of
range
or otherwise let it drop from the network then bring back onto the network
without restarting it as you're bringing it back? The laptop electing itself
mb, then reattaching to the network while mb, will cause most of these
symptoms. Answer: Not sure what you mean by this. But, the router is set to
use static DHCP, i.e. DHCP initially set the ip address of each computer, but
the router was configured to ensure that the assigned ip addresses are
static; they will never change.
8) As I conclude in my article about the Windows Browser, it would be better
if a
wireless computer never be a server, and certainly not a browser. Turning
off
the browser service, and / or disabling the master browser role in the
registry, is not a bad start towards normalising your symptoms, so you can
figure out the cause of the other symptoms.
Answer: There is no wireless computer on this network. I noticed that
turning off the browser service on the laptop prevents it from accessing the
LAN, but disabling the master browser roll in the registry has allowed the
desktops to always have access to it. However, I cannot get the desktops to
see the laptop on the LAN.

 

[Chuck]

1) When the laptop is the master browser, do you know for a fact that both
desktops recognise that role? Have you run browstat on all 3 computers for
both cases (desktop as mb and laptop as mb)? Any observed differences when
one or the other desktop is the mb?
Answer: I did not run browstat, but when either of the desktops are the mb,
the network can be accessed successfully from within My Network Places. When
the laptop is the mb, the laptop can access the network from within My
Network Places, but the desktops cannot. In this case, I know the laptop is
the mb because it was the first computer on the network to be turned on. When
I stopped the computer browser service on the laptop, waited a minute, and
then restarted the service, it gave the desktops time to elect a new mb. Then
they were able to access the network.
2) Is the Guest account enabled on the laptop for network access? IE., did
you
execute "net user guest /active:yes" from the laptop?
Answer: The Guest account is enabled on all computers, and Everyone is given
full access to the shares.
3) Have you set restrictanonymous properly?
Answer: Restrictanonymous value is 0 on all 3 computers.
4) How about a firewall problem?
Answer: There is a hardware firewall in the wired router that connects the
computers to the network, and Kerio Personal Firewall running on each
computer. Disabling the software firewall makes no difference, so it cannot
be that.
5) Remembering that you can have a latency period of up to 51 minutes
between any actual change to the network, and that change being reflected in
Network Neighborhood, do you always wait a sufficient amount of time after
making any changes, before making an observation judging the results?
Answer: There is no latency on this network. On each computer, the lmhosts
file contains the ip addresses and name of each computer with #PRE, so that
upon bootup, they are loaded in the netbios name cache. “Enable LMHOSTS
lookup” is enabled in each computer.
6) When the laptop is the (a?) master browser, what exactly do you mean by
"the XP Pro desktops cannot access the network at all through My Network
Places"?
Answer: The message “MSHOME is not accessible. You may not have permission
to … etc., etc., etc.” is displayed.
7) Whenever the laptop has both the browser service running, and the registry
setting to potentially become the mb set on, do you ever carry it out of
range
or otherwise let it drop from the network then bring back onto the network
without restarting it as you're bringing it back? The laptop electing itself
mb, then reattaching to the network while mb, will cause most of these
symptoms. Answer: Not sure what you mean by this. But, the router is set to
use static DHCP, i.e. DHCP initially set the ip address of each computer, but
the router was configured to ensure that the assigned ip addresses are
static; they will never change.
8) As I conclude in my article about the Windows Browser, it would be better
if a
wireless computer never be a server, and certainly not a browser. Turning
off
the browser service, and / or disabling the master browser role in the
registry, is not a bad start towards normalising your symptoms, so you can
figure out the cause of the other symptoms.
Answer: There is no wireless computer on this network. I noticed that
turning off the browser service on the laptop prevents it from accessing the
LAN, but disabling the master browser roll in the registry has allowed the
desktops to always have access to it. However, I cannot get the desktops to
see the laptop on the LAN.

Bill,

From your reports, I suspect that you have multiple problems. Please read some
of the references, they may help your understanding. You're asking for help,
and I'm trying to give you some clues. Not being in front of your computer, I
have to rely upon you to make the direct diagnoses.

Please use browstat to diagnose your problem. Don't rely on observation.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/browstat-utility-from-microsoft.html>

Your symptoms are consistent with a browser conflict. “MSHOME is not
accessible. You may not have permission to … etc., etc., etc.” is a classic
symptom.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#Browser>

There is latency in the browser system, this has nothing to do with your network
or the way it's setup. Please read Microsoft's white paper if you don't believe
me - look for either 48 minutes and 51 minutes.
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

How did you enable the Guest account? The command "net user guest /active:yes"
is different from using the Control Panel applet.

Some personal firewalls don't react well to being disabled. Please don't assume
that disabling a firewall will, by itself, remove the firewall as a contributor
to any problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>

 

[Guest]

Chuck,
Thank you. I'll investigate.

Bill

Bill,

From your reports, I suspect that you have multiple problems. Please read some
of the references, they may help your understanding. You're asking for help,
and I'm trying to give you some clues. Not being in front of your computer, I
have to rely upon you to make the direct diagnoses.

Please use browstat to diagnose your problem. Don't rely on observation.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/browstat-utility-from-microsoft.html>

Your symptoms are consistent with a browser conflict. “MSHOME is not
accessible. You may not have permission to … etc., etc., etc.†is a classic
symptom.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#Browser>

There is latency in the browser system, this has nothing to do with your network
or the way it's setup. Please read Microsoft's white paper if you don't believe
me - look for either 48 minutes and 51 minutes.
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>

How did you enable the Guest account? The command "net user guest /active:yes"
is different from using the Control Panel applet.

Some personal firewalls don't react well to being disabled. Please don't assume
that disabling a firewall will, by itself, remove the firewall as a contributor
to any problem.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>

 

[Guest]

I HAVE HAD 3 COMPUTERS NETWORKED FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND EACH TIME MICROSOFT
DOES A NEW UPDATE A WAR ERUPTS BETWEEN NORTON AND MICROSOFT ON WHO HAS
CONTROL. IT SHOULD DEFAULT TO THE CONTROL THAT WAS THERE BEFORE THE UPDATE.
WITH LATEST UP DATE JUNUARY 9 IT IS WORSE THAN THIS. I CANNOT EVEN ESTABLISH
A NETWORK THAT CAN TALK TO ITSELF. IT WORKS BEFORE I RESTART THE COMPUTERS
BUT SHORTLY AFTER RE-STARTING THEY NO-LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE WORKGROUPS.
DOES ANYONE HAVE SOLUTION?

 

[Noozer]

STOP SHOUTING!

....and get rid of Norton. It's a piece of crap!

 

[Chuck]

I HAVE HAD 3 COMPUTERS NETWORKED FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND EACH TIME MICROSOFT
DOES A NEW UPDATE A WAR ERUPTS BETWEEN NORTON AND MICROSOFT ON WHO HAS
CONTROL. IT SHOULD DEFAULT TO THE CONTROL THAT WAS THERE BEFORE THE UPDATE.
WITH LATEST UP DATE JUNUARY 9 IT IS WORSE THAN THIS. I CANNOT EVEN ESTABLISH
A NETWORK THAT CAN TALK TO ITSELF. IT WORKS BEFORE I RESTART THE COMPUTERS
BUT SHORTLY AFTER RE-STARTING THEY NO-LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE WORKGROUPS.
DOES ANYONE HAVE SOLUTION?

You're talking about a browser problem (not talking about IE here). One of the
most common causes of this problem would be a misconfigured or overlooked
personal firewall, but it's not the only possibility. There are several other
possibilities too, and any might be the cause of your problem. Read this article
with an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

We could possibly diagnose a problem using "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all"
from each computer. Read this article, and linked articles, and follow
instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp

But you do need to un stick your Caps Lock key. Help us to help you.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/how-to-post-on-usenet-and-encourage.html#Grammar>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/how-to-post-on-usenet-and-encourage.html#Grammar