Windows XP Pro and Home Connectivity

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I have Windows XP Pro on a computer that is acting as my file sharing
"server" and I have a Windows XP Home based laptop (call it "Remote") that I
use to access a shared directory on the XP Pro computer. Basically,
everything is working fine, except when I change the username on my Remote
computer, and make the corresponding changes on the XP Pro Users, the remote
computer is no longer able to access the shared directory. Here are a couple
other pieces of info: a) I'm not using simple file sharing; b) I've entered
the same password on the Remote and XP computer; c) both computers are on the
same wireless router; d) The Guest account on the Pro computer is disabled.
Has anyone else had this problem? When I've linked XP Pro to XP Pro
computers, I haven't had this problem. My hunch is that it has something to
do with the "computer name" itself on the remote computer, and not the user
account. Please help.
 
I have Windows XP Pro on a computer that is acting as my file sharing
"server" and I have a Windows XP Home based laptop (call it "Remote") that I
use to access a shared directory on the XP Pro computer. Basically,
everything is working fine, except when I change the username on my Remote
computer, and make the corresponding changes on the XP Pro Users, the remote
computer is no longer able to access the shared directory. Here are a couple
other pieces of info: a) I'm not using simple file sharing; b) I've entered
the same password on the Remote and XP computer; c) both computers are on the
same wireless router; d) The Guest account on the Pro computer is disabled.
Has anyone else had this problem? When I've linked XP Pro to XP Pro
computers, I haven't had this problem. My hunch is that it has something to
do with the "computer name" itself on the remote computer, and not the user
account. Please help.
Click to expand...

Josh,

OK the XP Home laptop is the client, and the XP Pro desktop (with SFS disabled)
is the server.
# What do you mean by "change the username"? Are you logging in to the laptop
with a different username (previously setup)? Or are you renaming the username
from one to the other?
# Are all accounts properly activated for network use? What level of access
does each username have (on both the client and server)?
# Is there just one shared directory on the server?
 
Chuck, Thanks for the quick response. To answer your questions:

# What do you mean by "change the username"? Are you logging in to the laptop
with a different username (previously setup)? Or are you renaming the
username
from one to the other?

On the remote laptop, I'm creating a new user account. And then restarting
the laptop, logging in under the new user account, and running the network
connection setup wizard. The new username is in addition to the primary
username on the laptop. So I'm not actually changing the original user
account at all. Also, the additional user account has full admin access on
the remote computer. (Not to confuse the issue, but as another matter, I
renamed the primary/original username at one point, made the apporpriate
correspondnig changes on the network serve, and ran into the same problem as
I'm having on the secondary account.)

# Are all accounts properly activated for network use? What level of access
does each username have (on both the client and server)?

Yes, the usernames are properly activated for network access. And they both
have full control of my particular shared directory on both the XP Pro
computer and the remote laptop.

# Is there just one shared directory on the server?

Yes, there is just one shared directory on the network server (although
technically, I guess you could say there are two because of the default
"Shared Folder" directory...though the directory I'm sharing and referring to
is not in the Shared Folder. It's established outside of that directory).
 
Chuck, Thanks for the quick response. To answer your questions:

# What do you mean by "change the username"? Are you logging in to the laptop
with a different username (previously setup)? Or are you renaming the
username
from one to the other?

On the remote laptop, I'm creating a new user account. And then restarting
the laptop, logging in under the new user account, and running the network
connection setup wizard. The new username is in addition to the primary
username on the laptop. So I'm not actually changing the original user
account at all. Also, the additional user account has full admin access on
the remote computer. (Not to confuse the issue, but as another matter, I
renamed the primary/original username at one point, made the apporpriate
correspondnig changes on the network serve, and ran into the same problem as
I'm having on the secondary account.)

# Are all accounts properly activated for network use? What level of access
does each username have (on both the client and server)?

Yes, the usernames are properly activated for network access. And they both
have full control of my particular shared directory on both the XP Pro
computer and the remote laptop.

# Is there just one shared directory on the server?

Yes, there is just one shared directory on the network server (although
technically, I guess you could say there are two because of the default
"Shared Folder" directory...though the directory I'm sharing and referring to
is not in the Shared Folder. It's established outside of that directory).
Click to expand...

Josh,

Why do you need to run the network setup wizard under a different account? Why
not run it as the original administrator (full user), and be done with it?

You should be able to run the wizard once, regardless of how many accounts you
setup or rename. Running the wizard simply sets file sharing up on that
computer.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-windows.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-windows.html

Once you run the wizard, then add the accounts to be used for accessing the
server. I've had varied results when renaming accounts used in workgroup
authentication. If I were you, I'd log in as the original administrator, and
delete any added accounts. Then re add a new account, with correct name and
password, to access the server.

Just run the wizard once only.
 
What's strange though is that when I log in under the new/secondary username,
it's as if the network wizard has not been run. There are no network
connections, there's no "network connections" icon on my Start Menu, etc.
etc. Yet if I were to log off, restart, etc. and log back in under the
primary user account, the network connections are established.
 
What's strange though is that when I log in under the new/secondary username,
it's as if the network wizard has not been run. There are no network
connections, there's no "network connections" icon on my Start Menu, etc.
etc. Yet if I were to log off, restart, etc. and log back in under the
primary user account, the network connections are established.
Click to expand...
What's strange though is that when I log in under the new/secondary username,
it's as if the network wizard has not been run. There are no network
connections, there's no "network connections" icon on my Start Menu, etc.
etc. Yet if I were to log off, restart, etc. and log back in under the
primary user account, the network connections are established.
Click to expand...

Josh,

So which came first? The strange network conditions, or the account rename?
That is, did you try the account rename after you observed the network problem
on the second account, or did you observe the network problem after you tried
renaming the account?

Lets do some basic diagnosis. Please provide "browstat status" and "ipconfig
/all" from the problem computer, when logged in under the problem account, then
under the primary account, so we can diagnose the problem. Read this article,
and linked articles, and follow instructions precisely (download browstat!):
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp
 
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