seeing another computer on a LAN

[jhnptbrg]

I have 2 new (used) XP notebooks - both came confiured with XP SP2. Followed
various advice in this section, A can see B, but B can't see A. A has user
"Administrator", B has user "User" - both are administrators, neither have
passwords.

On B, I tried to change the user name from "User" to "Administrator" but got
the message "An account named 'Administrator' already exists..." but I can't
see any other accounts (just User, not even guest).

Please help me let B see A, thx.

 

[Malke]

I have 2 new (used) XP notebooks - both came confiured with XP SP2. Followed
various advice in this section, A can see B, but B can't see A. A has user
"Administrator", B has user "User" - both are administrators, neither have
passwords.

On B, I tried to change the user name from "User" to "Administrator" but got
the message "An account named 'Administrator' already exists..." but I can't
see any other accounts (just User, not even guest).

Please help me let B see A, thx.

If you are able to see a user called Administrator on one of the
machines in Regular Mode, it is XP Pro. If the other machine is XP Home,
you already have a built-in user called Administrator; you just can't
see it in Regular Mode. Do not simply rename user accounts. Instead,
create matching user accounts on both machines. For ex., make a user
account called "User" on the machine that doesn't have it.

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may
look daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions
below systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting
up your sharing.

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 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.

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent
small network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

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.

B. For ease or 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. 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:

1. 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.

2. 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.

E. 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.


Malke

 

[jhnptbrg]

Thanks for your quick response -

Both machines are XP Pro

I'd like to avoid having and managing multiple accounts on these machines,
so I'm hoping to use Administrator on both. I read where Administrator will
not be displayed if there are any other users defined, so I'm hoping I can
simply delete "User" and have Administrator appear - then I can log into that
account and all will be well, but I'm concerned re whether the Administrator
account might have a password associated with it (I bought the machine used)
- is there a way I can find out? (I've gone thru Computer Mgt\Local
Users...\Users\Administrator and can see the Administrator account there -
it's set with "password never expires" but "user can not change password" is
unchecked)

Also, re suggestions below, I've annotated what bits and pieces I've done -
if I'm left out anything mandatory, please advise, thx.

John

If you are able to see a user called Administrator on one of the
machines in Regular Mode, it is XP Pro. If the other machine is XP Home,
you already have a built-in user called Administrator; you just can't
see it in Regular Mode. Do not simply rename user accounts. Instead,
create matching user accounts on both machines. For ex., make a user
account called "User" on the machine that doesn't have it.

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may
look daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions
below systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting
up your sharing.

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

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall;

DISABLED (behind a router)
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;

THIS IS ONE PROBLEM - NEED MORE HELP TO FIX
4) trying to create shares where the operating

system does not permit it.

NOT SURE - BUT I DOUBT THIS IS THE PROBLEM

For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent
small network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

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.

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

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. 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:

1. 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.

SIMPLE IS ENABLED ON BOTH

 

[Malke]

Thanks for your quick response -

Both machines are XP Pro

I'd like to avoid having and managing multiple accounts on these machines,
so I'm hoping to use Administrator on both. I read where Administrator will
not be displayed if there are any other users defined, so I'm hoping I can
simply delete "User" and have Administrator appear - then I can log into that
account and all will be well, but I'm concerned re whether the Administrator
account might have a password associated with it (I bought the machine used)
- is there a way I can find out? (I've gone thru Computer Mgt\Local
Users...\Users\Administrator and can see the Administrator account there -
it's set with "password never expires" but "user can not change password" is
unchecked)

Also, re suggestions below, I've annotated what bits and pieces I've done -
if I'm left out anything mandatory, please advise, thx.

Bless your heart, you absolutely *don't* want to have only one user
account on the system with administrative privileges. If that one
account gets corrupted you will be SOL. Since you will (hopefully) never
be using the built-in Administrator account, you will not have more than
one user account to "manage" on each machine.

It is really not a big deal to simply create the User account on the
machine that is missing it. This will make the Administrator account
disappear from the login screen (if you decide not to logon
automatically to User).

Used computers should always be wiped and a clean install of Windows
done. However, to change the Administrator password in XP Pro
Start>Run>control userpasswords2 [enter]. You'll see where you can
change the Administrator password.


Malke

 

[jhnptbrg]

HELP!

So, while I was waiting for your response, I tried creating an act on
maching A (the one that could see B), and now I'm unable to log back on as
Administrator (which is where all my files, etc are) because once there is a
2nd account, Administrator is not displayed on the logon screen, so HELP!
Please. I see the advice you've given below, but because I tried to follow
the earlier adivce re making the acts on both machines the same, I'm in
trouble - hope your still on line because I really need to get back into my
account right away...

Thanks for your quick response -

Both machines are XP Pro

I'd like to avoid having and managing multiple accounts on these machines,
so I'm hoping to use Administrator on both. I read where Administrator will
not be displayed if there are any other users defined, so I'm hoping I can
simply delete "User" and have Administrator appear - then I can log into that
account and all will be well, but I'm concerned re whether the Administrator
account might have a password associated with it (I bought the machine used)
- is there a way I can find out? (I've gone thru Computer Mgt\Local
Users...\Users\Administrator and can see the Administrator account there -
it's set with "password never expires" but "user can not change password" is
unchecked)

Also, re suggestions below, I've annotated what bits and pieces I've done -
if I'm left out anything mandatory, please advise, thx.

Bless your heart, you absolutely *don't* want to have only one user
account on the system with administrative privileges. If that one
account gets corrupted you will be SOL. Since you will (hopefully) never
be using the built-in Administrator account, you will not have more than
one user account to "manage" on each machine.

It is really not a big deal to simply create the User account on the
machine that is missing it. This will make the Administrator account
disappear from the login screen (if you decide not to logon
automatically to User).

Used computers should always be wiped and a clean install of Windows
done. However, to change the Administrator password in XP Pro
Start>Run>control userpasswords2 [enter]. You'll see where you can
change the Administrator password.


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

 

[jhnptbrg]

Belay the immediately prior email - I found a post you provided in Security
and Admin re user who "lost" all admin acts - and got back in, but still very
confused re how to do what you are suggesting

I'm completely set up as Administrator. If I create a 2nd account as you
suggest, how can I move all my set up, files, identities, etc from
Administrator to the new user?

Also, still can't figure out how to see the other machines from "B"...

But REALLY glad to be able to see/access my data again, and will be grateful
for continued assistance in sorting out making these two machines 'compatible'

rgds, John

Thanks for your quick response -

Both machines are XP Pro

I'd like to avoid having and managing multiple accounts on these machines,
so I'm hoping to use Administrator on both. I read where Administrator will
not be displayed if there are any other users defined, so I'm hoping I can
simply delete "User" and have Administrator appear - then I can log into that
account and all will be well, but I'm concerned re whether the Administrator
account might have a password associated with it (I bought the machine used)
- is there a way I can find out? (I've gone thru Computer Mgt\Local
Users...\Users\Administrator and can see the Administrator account there -
it's set with "password never expires" but "user can not change password" is
unchecked)

Also, re suggestions below, I've annotated what bits and pieces I've done -
if I'm left out anything mandatory, please advise, thx.

Bless your heart, you absolutely *don't* want to have only one user
account on the system with administrative privileges. If that one
account gets corrupted you will be SOL. Since you will (hopefully) never
be using the built-in Administrator account, you will not have more than
one user account to "manage" on each machine.

It is really not a big deal to simply create the User account on the
machine that is missing it. This will make the Administrator account
disappear from the login screen (if you decide not to logon
automatically to User).

Used computers should always be wiped and a clean install of Windows
done. However, to change the Administrator password in XP Pro
Start>Run>control userpasswords2 [enter]. You'll see where you can
change the Administrator password.


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

 

[Malke]

Belay the immediately prior email - I found a post you provided in Security
and Admin re user who "lost" all admin acts - and got back in, but still very
confused re how to do what you are suggesting

I'm completely set up as Administrator. If I create a 2nd account as you
suggest, how can I move all my set up, files, identities, etc from
Administrator to the new user?

OK, on the machine where you were using the built-in Administrator
account and want to transfer all the data/settings to User:

Create a third user account - you can call it "Extra" or "Tech",
whatever you want. Log into it. You are going to copy the Administrator
data/settings to the User account by following the directions here:

Copy a User Account - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811151

Never mind that the title of the Knowledge Base article says this has to
do with a corrupted user account; this is how you do it on working
accounts, too.

You'll have to fix a few little personalizations in User when you're
done, but all your stuff should now be there. Once you are sure
everything is there, you can delete the data - and *only* the data -
from your built-in Administrator account. Then don't use that account
any more.

Once you've gotten that done, you should now have matching user
accounts/passwords on both machines. Review the networking information I
gave you already. I referenced a troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna
and that really has helped a lot of people.

http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm


Malke

 

[jhnptbrg]

Second try to submit a reply, apologies if this is a duplicate (prior attempt
didn't seem to post normally)

Thanks, those are clear directions, I'm trying to follow, but encountered an
error:

Error Copying File or Folder
Can not create or replace CardSpace: Access Denied
Make sure disk is not full or write protected and that file is not currently
in use

I clicked okay and the copy process ended. This happened when ~95% of files
had copied over, but that was only ~75% of the data (per size on disk). So, 3
new questions:

1. How do I handle CardSpace problem?
2. How do I prevent similar from disrupting the process again?
3. How do I restart from where it stopped?

thanks in advance for continued assistance, rgds, John

 

[Malke]

Second try to submit a reply, apologies if this is a duplicate (prior attempt
didn't seem to post normally)

Thanks, those are clear directions, I'm trying to follow, but encountered an
error:

Error Copying File or Folder
Can not create or replace CardSpace: Access Denied
Make sure disk is not full or write protected and that file is not currently
in use

I clicked okay and the copy process ended. This happened when ~95% of files
had copied over, but that was only ~75% of the data (per size on disk). So, 3
new questions:

1. How do I handle CardSpace problem?
2. How do I prevent similar from disrupting the process again?
3. How do I restart from where it stopped?

I don't know anything about CardSpace on XP. I know it's part of Vista.
Are you sure you are:

1) Logged into the new "Extra" or "Tech" user account? If not, then you
missed that very important step and that's where you need to be.

2) From the "Extra/Tech" account, setting all files to be visible (per
the instructions at the link I gave you) and doing this:

Press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each file and subfolder
in this folder, *except* the following files:
Ntuser.dat
Ntuser.dat.log
Ntuser.ini

Frankly, it sounds to me like you're trying to copy your entire hard
drive (which is *not* what you are supposed to be doing) but of course
since I can't see your computer, I don't really know what you're doing.

If CardSpace is some program you have that is always running in the
background, you need to stop it running before you copy it. Possibly
copying the user account in Safe Mode would be the way to go then.



Malke

 

[jhnptbrg]

I definitely was in the extra/tech account and all file types are visible - I
even booted clean and logged directly into that new act, because I read in
one of the links referred to in one of your posts to other questions that
this was necessary to make the copy work.

I definitely am not trying to copy my whole hard drive - I just highlighted
all the files in the Documents\Adminstrator folder except the 3 you specified
to exclude.

In case it helps, the filed that was being copied when the error occured was
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\LocalSettings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Feeds\Microsoft Feeds~\Microsoft at Works~.feed-ms

If retried it twice now, and it gets hung at the same spot...

Perhaps I should close all the programs in my systray, in case any of those
are causing the problem, but it seems odd that copying data from the
Documents...\Administrator would create a conflict when I'm logged into a
different account ...

Any additional suggestions WELCOME, thx

John

 

[Malke]

I definitely was in the extra/tech account and all file types are visible - I
even booted clean and logged directly into that new act, because I read in
one of the links referred to in one of your posts to other questions that
this was necessary to make the copy work.

I definitely am not trying to copy my whole hard drive - I just highlighted
all the files in the Documents\Adminstrator folder except the 3 you specified
to exclude.

In case it helps, the filed that was being copied when the error occured was
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\LocalSettings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Feeds\Microsoft Feeds~\Microsoft at Works~.feed-ms

If retried it twice now, and it gets hung at the same spot...

Perhaps I should close all the programs in my systray, in case any of those
are causing the problem, but it seems odd that copying data from the
Documents...\Administrator would create a conflict when I'm logged into a
different account ...

Any additional suggestions WELCOME, thx

Just copy everything except the file that fails, then.


Malke