Problems sharing on network

[Cyril N. Alberga]

I have two machines running XP Pro, hard-wired to a Linksys router. I'm trying
to network them, but I'm clearly doing something dumb.

If on the first machine I go to:
My Network Places\Entire Network\Micorsoft Windows Network\Mshome
I see both computers listed.

But when I go to Sharing and Security for a second harddrive and try to add a
new "share" the Permissions window only displays one (the current) machine in
the locations list.

What must I do to get the second machine to display?

Cyril N. Alberga

 

[Nathan]

Hey Cyril,

You need to make sure that:
a) both are on the MSHOME workgroup
b) C:\ on the computer you're trying to share is shared.

To check a, you need to:
1.Go to the Start menu
2. Right-click on "My Computer" and go Properties
3. Click on the "Computer Name" tab
4. Check if Workgroup is MSHOME.

for B, you need to:
1. Right click on the C:\ on the computer you're trying to share
2. Go to Properties
3. Click the "Sharing Tab" and tick the "Share this folder on the
Network" checkbox.

Make sure both C:\'s are shared. You also may have to set up IP
addresses for both computers.

If that doesn't help at all you may want to take a look at this PC
World Article on setting up Networks:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,102461-page,1/article.html

Regards,

Nathan F.

 

[Malke]

I have two machines running XP Pro, hard-wired to a Linksys router. I'm
trying to network them, but I'm clearly doing something dumb.

If on the first machine I go to:
My Network Places\Entire Network\Micorsoft Windows Network\Mshome
I see both computers listed.

But when I go to Sharing and Security for a second harddrive and try to
add a new "share" the Permissions window only displays one (the current)
machine in the locations list.

What must I do to get the second machine to display?

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including stateful
firewalls in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.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 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall. DO
NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

Malke

 

[Cyril N. Alberga]

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including stateful
firewalls in a VPN); or 2) inadvertently running two firewalls such as the
built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party firewall; and/or 3) not having
identical user accounts and passwords on all Workgroup machines; 4) trying
to create shares where the operating system does not permit it.

A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN)
traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing File/Printer
Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network Setup Wizard on
XP will take care of this for those machines.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 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually configure the LAN allowance
with an IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you
would substitute your correct subnet. Do not run more than one firewall. DO
NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this. The instructions at this link work for both XP and Vista:

Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

Malke

Okay, guys, I still have a problem.

Machine A can now see the HD on Machine B, via the "My Network Places" directory
tree, and has permission to look at, and modify the files there.

Machine B can see the existence of HDs on Machine A, but doesn't have permission
to access them.

On Machine A however, if I try to "share" a HD with Machine B the "share"ing
dialog box DOESN'T see Machine B at all. When I open the "Select Users or
Groups" DB Machine B is not seen when "Locations" is clicked, nor are any of the
users on Machine B displayed when I click "Advanced" and then "Find Now".

So, on Machine A, Machine B is listed in "My Network Places", but not in the
list of entities that can be granted permissions.

What can I do now?

Cyril N. Alberga