Unable to network between two Win 2K machines

[Larry Stone]

I am trying to connect a peer to peer network between my
laptop and desktop using a wireless router (wireless for
the laptop using a USB connector, wired for the desktop).
Both computers are able to connect to the router, and to
the Internet, but not to each other. I have given both
the same workgroup name, and log onto each computer with
the same login and password. The computer apparently
recognizes the network name (in Windows Explorer), but
when I try to click on it I get the message "(workgroup
name) is not accessible. The list of servers for this
workgroup is not currently available". I have no idea
what list of servers this is referring to, or how to make
it available. I had assumed that in a peer to peer
network, there would not be a server. I have file and
print sharing turned on in both machines (in the network
properties window), and have set both My Documents and
other folders to share permitted. Any advice would be
appreciated. Thank you.

 

[BG250]

You can use IPCONFIG at the command prompt to see what the IP address is on
the machines. You should be able to PING the other computer. For example,
PING xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (replace x with address of destination machine) to see
if it replies. If so, they can communicate. You may need to temporarily
disable your firewall, if used, for the ping test to work. If so, it can be
the firewall blocking communication between the machines. In this case you
will need to configure the firewall(s) to permit traffic to pass between the
machines, but block the Internet nasties.

Post back with the results and we can look at the next level if necessary.
HTH, bg