The netwrok path was not found

[Guest]

I am attempting to create a home network. I have a 2Wire Home Portal for my
DSL connection and have run the home netwrok setup wizard to connect my Dell
Inspiron laptop and my Sony Vaio desktop. When I view my workgroup computers
on the destop, it shows both. When I click on view my workgroup computers on
the Dell, I get the following message:
Mshome is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network
resource. Contact the administrator to find out if you have access
permission.
The network path was not found.

I get the same message when I try to open the laptop from my desktop.

What did I do wrong?

 

[Chuck]

I am attempting to create a home network. I have a 2Wire Home Portal for my
DSL connection and have run the home netwrok setup wizard to connect my Dell
Inspiron laptop and my Sony Vaio desktop. When I view my workgroup computers
on the destop, it shows both. When I click on view my workgroup computers on
the Dell, I get the following message:
Mshome is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network
resource. Contact the administrator to find out if you have access
permission.
The network path was not found.

I get the same message when I try to open the laptop from my desktop.

What did I do wrong?

Kevin,

Can you actually open a file on the laptop from the desktop? If so, I'd suspect
a personal firewall first. A misconfigured personal firewall (whether active or
disabled) can cause this symptom.

If you're totally sure a firewall is not the problem, then look at the browser
situation (I'm not talking about Internet Explorer here). Make sure the browser
service is running on the desktop computer. 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
laptop. Power both computers off, then power the desktop on, and finally the
laptop.

The Microsoft Browstat program will show us what browsers 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>

 

[Joe D'Amico]

This is the same setup I have and have had no problems. You didn't say if
your homeportal was connected to a hub? I will assume your homeportal is
the "Router" version Homeportal 2 a.k.a. 2 wire and you are connected to a
hub.

First, use the homeportal firewall not the firewall that is built into
XPSP2. It works fine and I have never had an intrusion onto my network.

Second, are all your machines running XP and which version Home or Pro? If
one of them is Windows 2k, then you will have problems. If 1 is a W2K
machine make sure that it is ALWAYS the last machine to boot and never allow
it to stay up if you reboot the XP machines. If the W2K machine is the
first/last machine running you will get the exact error you are
experiencing.

Third, rename the workgroup to something else such as MYHOMEWG or what makes
sense to you. To be safe use all caps and no spaces.

Fourth, use this link:
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/troubleshoot_index.htm
It has everything you need to know to trouble shoot and get
things working.

As I said, you have the same setup as I have and I have as many as 5
machines on my network at any one time and it always works great.

Good luck,
Joe.