I have four machines connected to a router. 2 xp pro, 1 xp home, and 1 win
98. The Xp machines can share files and folders with each other. However,
the win 98 machine will not share any of its files or printers with the other
computers. The win 98 machine can access the XP's shared files. I have
sharing enabled for my printer and I added file a printer sharing to the
nework properties for the windows 98 machine. What else do I need to do
share my printers connected to my windows 98 machine?
Also, when I go to see my workgoup all of my computers do appear. If I
double click on the 98 machine from an xp machine it says network path not
found
Chris,
If you're having trouble accessing a Windows XP computer from a Windows 98
computer, this could possibly be a browser issue (I'm not talking about Internet
Explorer here) on your LAN. The browsers for Windows 9x/ME and for Windows
NT/2K/XP don't work well together.
Make sure the browser service is running on the two WinXP computers that stay
online the most. Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services. Verify that
the Computer Browser, and the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, services both show with
Status = Started. Disable the browser on the others, including the Win98
computer:
http://cms.simons-rock.edu/faq_by_subtopic/node138.html
After checking / disabling / enabling as above, power all computers off to reset
the browser settings on each. Then power the Windows XP computers on, and
finally the Windows 98 computer on.
The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers (I'm not talking about
Internet Explorer here) you have in your domain / workgroup, at any time.
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
You can download Browstat from either:
<
http://www.dynawell.com/reskit/microsoft/win2000/browstat.zip>
<
http://rescomp.stanford.edu/staff/manual/rcc/tools/browstat.zip>
Browstat is very small (40K), and needs no install. Just unzip the downloaded
file, copy browstat.exe to any folder in the Path, and run it from a command
window, by "browstat status". Make sure all computers give the same result.
For more information about the browser subsystem (very intricate), see:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188001
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=188305
<
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winntas/deploy/prodspecs/ntbrowse.mspx>
Do any of the computers have a software firewall (ICF / WF, or third party)? If
so, you need to configure them for file sharing. Firewall configurations are a
very common cause of (network) browser, and file sharing, problems.
If it's not a browser or firewall problem, check the Node Type of each computer,
using the command "ipconfig /all". Look for the ipconfig portion similar to:
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : My_Computer
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer
Node type Peer-Peer is a problem. That means My_Computer needs a WINS server to
resolve names. No WINS server, no name resolution. Any other value, including
"Unknown" is OK.
Here are Microsoft article discussing node types:
<
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314053>
<
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=160177>
To correct this, you'll need to run the Registry Editor on My_Computer.
You need to find this key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters]
and delete these two values (which ever is there):
NodeType
DhcpNodeType
After you delete the two values, reboot the computer. After the reboot, rerun
IPConfig and post the results.
The Registry Editor is a scary tool, but it's pretty simple once you get used to
it. Here are a couple articles that might help:
<
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...home/using/productdoc/en/tools_regeditors.asp>
<
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/registry>
Just remember to backup the key (create a registry patch) for:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters]
before deleting the values.
From the Annoyances article:
You can create a Registry patch by opening the Registry Editor, selecting a
branch, and choosing Export from the File menu. Then, specify a filename, and
press OK. You can then view the Registry patch file by opening it in Notepad
(right-click on it and select Edit). Again, just double-click on a Registry
patch file (or use Import in the Registry Editor's File menu) to apply it to the
registry.
