Problems connecting to files on other computers.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fuzzy
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Fuzzy

Okay, I have 4 computers in my house, 3 desktops and my laptop, the
desktops have XP home and the laptop has professional. I recently
reformatted the laptop and (its a dell inspiron E1705), and now for
some reason I cannot access files on the other 3 computers. I can see
the files, and other computers can see mine. The weirdest thing about
it is when I have a file set to share and make it so others can change
my files, I can transfer in and out of my laptop from any of the
desktops. If anyone can help me it would mean a lot...
 
Fuzzy said:
Okay, I have 4 computers in my house, 3 desktops and my laptop, the
desktops have XP home and the laptop has professional. I recently
reformatted the laptop and (its a dell inspiron E1705), and now for
some reason I cannot access files on the other 3 computers. I can see
the files, and other computers can see mine. The weirdest thing about
it is when I have a file set to share and make it so others can change
my files, I can transfer in and out of my laptop from any of the
desktops. If anyone can help me it would mean a lot...
Click to expand...

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured firewall. Run the Network
Setup Wizard on the laptop, 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 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
 
Thanks, although my problem wasn't really solved (by my lack of
knowledge), the guide you linked me to helped me to discover that my
problem is a glitch in my windows, specifically in the My Network
Places file, it will show me the folders on other computers and the
path but i need to go to workgroup computers in order to access them
manually, the shortcuts aren't working is all. Thanks again, that guide
saved me a lot of work and trouble!
 
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