Windows XP Networking Issues

[Scott]

I am having trouble getting our network to work at the office. I am no
expert, but I know a little more than your average joe. The problem is I
cannot access all the computers on my network. This was set up by someone
else who is no longer here and I am trying to add a computer. Here is the
rundown.

We Have:

D-Link: Etherenet Broadband Router
D-Link: Gigbit Switch
5 Computers all with XP Pro except 1 that has XP media Center

The ping results show all can ping the router and all can access the
internet. The problem is all of the computers can access the shared files on
computer 1, but none of the computers can succesfully ping computer 1, and
the only computer that computer 1 cannot ping is the new computer (which we
moved the printer to) All computers show up in the Workgroup on all of the
other computers.

Hopefully This information is helpful. I need to add a printer from the new
computer top all of the other computers, but i have been unsucessful so far.
Any help is appreciated.

 

[Malke]

I am having trouble getting our network to work at the office. I am no
expert, but I know a little more than your average joe. The problem is I
cannot access all the computers on my network. This was set up by someone
else who is no longer here and I am trying to add a computer. Here is the
rundown.

We Have:

D-Link: Etherenet Broadband Router
D-Link: Gigbit Switch
5 Computers all with XP Pro except 1 that has XP media Center

The ping results show all can ping the router and all can access the
internet. The problem is all of the computers can access the shared files
on computer 1, but none of the computers can succesfully ping computer 1,
and the only computer that computer 1 cannot ping is the new computer
(which we moved the printer to) All computers show up in the Workgroup on
all of the other computers.

Hopefully This information is helpful. I need to add a printer from the
new computer top all of the other computers, but i have been unsucessful
so far. Any help is appreciated.

You probably have misconfigured firewall(s) and/or non-matching user
accounts/passwords. See below for general network troubleshooting.

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 a stateful
firewall 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).

E. Create shares as desired.

F. After you have file sharing working (and have tested this by exchanging a
file between all machines), if you want to share a printer connected
locally to one of your computers, share it out from that machine. Then go
to the printer mftr.'s website and download the latest drivers for the
correct operating system(s). Install them on the target machine(s). The
printer should be seen during the installation routine. If it is not,
install the drivers and then use the Add Printer Wizard. In some instances,
certain printers need to be installed as Local printers but that is outside
of this response.

Malke

 

[Scott]

I think I have done most of these, but I will run through these steps again.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
Just an humble addition to Malke's extensive post.
Windows XP File Sharing -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
Printer Sharing XP -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx
Windows Native Firewall setting for Sharing XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875357
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Scott]

i have not yet had the opportunity to do what you repviously mentioned, but i
just thought of something i left out of my original post.

I have two computers on the network that are both in "my network places" and
"work group computers" each computer, however they cannot ping eachother.

 

[Jim]

i have not yet had the opportunity to do what you repviously mentioned, but
i
just thought of something i left out of my original post.

I have two computers on the network that are both in "my network places"
and
"work group computers" each computer, however they cannot ping eachother.

Both computers are consistent in that they both block ICMP packets. A
misconfigured firewall is one possible reason.
But, I would follow MVP Jack's advice.

I will tell you that either of my computers can ping the other. In fact
they have been able to do this since the second computer arrived almost 2
years ago.
Furthermore, it took me a while to get them to share files and folders. The
fundamental problem was that I was not following MVP Jack's procedures.
Jim

 

[Scott]

Just wanted to let you all know. The problem came from a Norton Firewall
setting (trial version i didn't think was running). Thank You for all of your
help. We are back up and running.

 

[Malke]

Just wanted to let you all know. The problem came from a Norton Firewall
setting (trial version i didn't think was running). Thank You for all of
your help. We are back up and running.

Thank you very much for updating the thread. Glad to hear you got it sorted.

Malke