Workgroup - cannot access files

[Owner]

After Windows Updates, my workgroup is unable to exchange files.

My laptop and PC have been configured to the same workgroup designation.

Laptop = XP Home
PC = XP Pro

These machines are on secure wireless network with firewalled enabled, DHCP
enabled Linksys router.
I have created a Briefcase on the laptop to sync some files and folders.
I can ping each machine from the other by IP address. Cannot ping PC by
name from laptop. (don't know if that even matters).

This was working for about 6 months or so. A few weeks ago, I did complete
Windows updates on both machines. There is no restore point available to
go back to before the problem.

Simple file sharing is disabled on PC (laptop is xp home so this is n/a),
NTFS file and folder permissions are assigned to the PC shares and share
permissions are granted.

Originally when connecting to a share on the PC from laptop, a authentication
screen came up for me to logon to PC with my PC password. This no longer
comes up. I cannot map drive either.

Please help me I would appreciate it

 

[Guest]

The most likely thing is thta Windows Firewall has been turned on by one of
the updates, and file sharing as not been allowed as an exception.

Try connecting with the commandline method:

NET USE H: \\SERVERNAME\SHARENAME

- that may be more informative as to why it isn't working.

 

[Clyde]

UPDATE - I just read through other postings on this site and Chuck's, and
see many people have had similar problems. I have managed to be able to
see shared folders on My Network Places from either machine but get error
message when trying to access folders.

"\\<other machine>\<folder> not accessible. You might not have permission
to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to
find out if you have access permissions. Access is denied."

Note: I cannot ping the PC by name from the laptop. Share folder permissions
are assigned to Administrator(Full), "My User Name"(Full), Everyone (R) on
the PC (XP Pro), laptop runs XP Home. The Server service is running on both
machines.

I am so frustrated, I used to be able to just click on folder, logon dialog
would come up for the other machine, and able to access files.

I have used troubleshooting wizard, used ping, and net use to investigate,
Any help would be appreciated. My feeling is that one of the updates may
have caused this by changing some setting, but I'm unsure.

 

[Chuck]

UPDATE - I just read through other postings on this site and Chuck's, and
see many people have had similar problems. I have managed to be able to
see shared folders on My Network Places from either machine but get error
message when trying to access folders.

"\\<other machine>\<folder> not accessible. You might not have permission
to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to
find out if you have access permissions. Access is denied."

Note: I cannot ping the PC by name from the laptop. Share folder permissions
are assigned to Administrator(Full), "My User Name"(Full), Everyone (R) on
the PC (XP Pro), laptop runs XP Home. The Server service is running on both
machines.

I am so frustrated, I used to be able to just click on folder, logon dialog
would come up for the other machine, and able to access files.

I have used troubleshooting wizard, used ping, and net use to investigate,
Any help would be appreciated. My feeling is that one of the updates may
have caused this by changing some setting, but I'm unsure.

Clyde,

If you're having both ping and "access denied" problems, this quite likely
points to a personal firewall, or firewall component, problem. What antivirus /
antiworm products do you use?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

 

[Clyde]

Hello Chuck,

Thaks for your response. I am using Norton Antivirus 2005 on both machines,
and a firewall on my Linksys WRTG54 wireless router, also Microsoft Antispyware
real-time protection. no other 3rd party protection. I actually tried disabling
all of these for a few minutes to see if I could connect. I have not changed
the default settings for Norton AV or the Linksys firewall, except for opening
up some ports for gaming, etc on router.

I just read thru the references you suggested, but don't see anything that
I can use with my setup. Although I ran the Network setup wizard, and specified
file and printer sharing. I have always turned the Windows firewall off,
believing the router's firewall to be sufficient.

I can't remember where I saw the info now, but this posting had a command
to test the PC ports 53, 90, and two others - I tried that this morning two
of them were unreachable, [can't remember the command now, thought I saved
log file]

The troubling thing about this is that is worked perfectly for months, I
can't think of any major changes I've made - other than updated with Windows
Update which hadn't been done on the PC for a few months.

If you can think of something else for me to try - Please advise.

Thank you,
Clyde.

 

[Clyde]

Hello Chuck,

I just checked the registry again for that setting you mentioned in http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html
--- it was set to "1" on the PC, rather than "0"
There was also a setting for the router that said block anonymous internet
requests - I turned that off (don't know if I should've though)

I still couldn't connect using my computer account, had to give the everyone
permission (which I don't like to do). That does let me connect now!

I still don't understand why I am not being asked to just logon, as I did
before having this problem. What do you think is the problem with not being
able to ping the PC by name.

I appreciate your help. Thank god for this newsgroup!

Clyde.







Hello Chuck,

Thaks for your response. I am using Norton Antivirus 2005 on both machines,
and a firewall on my Linksys WRTG54 wireless router, also Microsoft Antispyware
real-time protection. no other 3rd party protection. I actually tried disabling
all of these for a few minutes to see if I could connect. I have not changed
the default settings for Norton AV or the Linksys firewall, except for opening
up some ports for gaming, etc on router.

I just read thru the references you suggested, but don't see anything that
I can use with my setup. Although I ran the Network setup wizard, and specified
file and printer sharing. I have always turned the Windows firewall off,
believing the router's firewall to be sufficient.

I can't remember where I saw the info now, but this posting had a command
to test the PC ports 53, 90, and two others - I tried that this morning two
of them were unreachable, [can't remember the command now, thought I saved
log file]

The troubling thing about this is that is worked perfectly for months, I
can't think of any major changes I've made - other than updated with Windows
Update which hadn't been done on the PC for a few months.

If you can think of something else for me to try - Please advise.

Thank you, Clyde.

 

[Chuck]

Hello Chuck,

Thaks for your response. I am using Norton Antivirus 2005 on both machines,
and a firewall on my Linksys WRTG54 wireless router, also Microsoft Antispyware
real-time protection. no other 3rd party protection. I actually tried disabling
all of these for a few minutes to see if I could connect. I have not changed
the default settings for Norton AV or the Linksys firewall, except for opening
up some ports for gaming, etc on router.

I just read thru the references you suggested, but don't see anything that
I can use with my setup. Although I ran the Network setup wizard, and specified
file and printer sharing. I have always turned the Windows firewall off,
believing the router's firewall to be sufficient.

I can't remember where I saw the info now, but this posting had a command
to test the PC ports 53, 90, and two others - I tried that this morning two
of them were unreachable, [can't remember the command now, thought I saved
log file]

The troubling thing about this is that is worked perfectly for months, I
can't think of any major changes I've made - other than updated with Windows
Update which hadn't been done on the PC for a few months.

If you can think of something else for me to try - Please advise.

Thank you,
Clyde.

Clyde,

Well, to start, a NAT router is not a firewall. It contains SOME firewall
functionality, but it is NOT a firewall. And it provides no protection between
the computers on your LAN.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-nat-router.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-nat-router.html

Now, if you have NAV 2005, you have worm protection. The antiworm component in
NAV has been known to cause your problem. You need to either configure NAV, and
WF, properly. Including the NAV antiworm component. On both computers. And if
you have anything besides NAV, say NPF or NIS (which NAV is bundled with
frequently), you have to configure NPF, and THEN you must disable WF.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-either-help.html

 

[Chuck]

Hello Chuck,

Thaks for your response. I am using Norton Antivirus 2005 on both machines,
and a firewall on my Linksys WRTG54 wireless router, also Microsoft Antispyware
real-time protection. no other 3rd party protection. I actually tried disabling
all of these for a few minutes to see if I could connect. I have not changed
the default settings for Norton AV or the Linksys firewall, except for opening
up some ports for gaming, etc on router.

I just read thru the references you suggested, but don't see anything that
I can use with my setup. Although I ran the Network setup wizard, and specified
file and printer sharing. I have always turned the Windows firewall off,
believing the router's firewall to be sufficient.

I can't remember where I saw the info now, but this posting had a command
to test the PC ports 53, 90, and two others - I tried that this morning two
of them were unreachable, [can't remember the command now, thought I saved
log file]

The troubling thing about this is that is worked perfectly for months, I
can't think of any major changes I've made - other than updated with Windows
Update which hadn't been done on the PC for a few months.

If you can think of something else for me to try - Please advise.

Thank you, Clyde.

Clyde,

If you're having both ping and "access denied" problems, this quite
likely
points to a personal firewall, or firewall component, problem. What
antivirus /
antiworm products do you use?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eith
er-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eithe
r-help.html
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-vis
ibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visi
bility.html

Hello Chuck,

I just checked the registry again for that setting you mentioned in http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html
--- it was set to "1" on the PC, rather than "0"
There was also a setting for the router that said block anonymous internet
requests - I turned that off (don't know if I should've though)

I still couldn't connect using my computer account, had to give the everyone
permission (which I don't like to do). That does let me connect now!

I still don't understand why I am not being asked to just logon, as I did
before having this problem. What do you think is the problem with not being
able to ping the PC by name.

I appreciate your help. Thank god for this newsgroup!

Allright Clyde. The restrictanonymous setting strikes again!

The router setting is irrelevant to your problem. Block anonymous WAN /
Internet requests lets you be pingable from the Internet. That is, in itself,
not as bad as some security experts claim.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/security-by-obscurity.html

The restrictanonymous setting should cause no problem wrt pinging or name
resolution. That almost HAS to be a firewall / antiworm protection problem.

 

[Clyde]

Hello Chuck,
Thanks again for all your help, I am going to spend some time reading your
blog, I just recently took a course on Windows/Networking course, but so
many of these issues are almost impossible to solve without experience of
your own (or someone like you).

Peace,
Clyde

UPDATE - I just read through other postings on this site and
Chuck's, and see many people have had similar problems. I have
managed to be able to see shared folders on My Network Places from
either machine but get error message when trying to access folders.

"\\<other machine>\<folder> not accessible. You might not have
permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator
of this server to find out if you have access permissions. Access
is denied."

Note: I cannot ping the PC by name from the laptop. Share folder
permissions are assigned to Administrator(Full), "My User
Name"(Full), Everyone (R) on the PC (XP Pro), laptop runs XP Home.
The Server service is running on both machines.

I am so frustrated, I used to be able to just click on folder,
logon dialog would come up for the other machine, and able to
access files.

I have used troubleshooting wizard, used ping, and net use to
investigate, Any help would be appreciated. My feeling is that one
of the updates may have caused this by changing some setting, but
I'm unsure.

After Windows Updates, my workgroup is unable to exchange files.

My laptop and PC have been configured to the same workgroup
designation.

Laptop = XP Home
PC = XP Pro
These machines are on secure wireless network with firewalled
enabled,
DHCP
enabled Linksys router.
I have created a Briefcase on the laptop to sync some files and
folders.
I can ping each machine from the other by IP address. Cannot ping
PC
by
name from laptop. (don't know if that even matters).
This was working for about 6 months or so. A few weeks ago, I did
complete Windows updates on both machines. There is no restore
point
available to go back to before the problem.
Simple file sharing is disabled on PC (laptop is xp home so this
is
n/a), NTFS file and folder permissions are assigned to the PC
shares
and share permissions are granted.
Originally when connecting to a share on the PC from laptop, a
authentication screen came up for me to logon to PC with my PC
password. This no longer comes up. I cannot map drive either.

Please help me I would appreciate it.

Clyde,

If you're having both ping and "access denied" problems, this quite
likely
points to a personal firewall, or firewall component, problem. What
antivirus /
antiworm products do you use?
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-ei
th
er-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eit
he
r-help.html
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-v
is
ibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-vi
si
bility.html

Hello Chuck,

Thaks for your response. I am using Norton Antivirus 2005 on both
machines, and a firewall on my Linksys WRTG54 wireless router, also
Microsoft Antispyware real-time protection. no other 3rd party
protection. I actually tried disabling all of these for a few
minutes to see if I could connect. I have not changed the default
settings for Norton AV or the Linksys firewall, except for opening up
some ports for gaming, etc on router.

I just read thru the references you suggested, but don't see anything
that I can use with my setup. Although I ran the Network setup
wizard, and specified file and printer sharing. I have always turned
the Windows firewall off, believing the router's firewall to be
sufficient.

I can't remember where I saw the info now, but this posting had a
command to test the PC ports 53, 90, and two others - I tried that
this morning two of them were unreachable, [can't remember the
command now, thought I saved log file]

The troubling thing about this is that is worked perfectly for
months, I can't think of any major changes I've made - other than
updated with Windows Update which hadn't been done on the PC for a
few months.

If you can think of something else for me to try - Please advise.

Thank you, Clyde.

Clyde,

Well, to start, a NAT router is not a firewall. It contains SOME
firewall functionality, but it is NOT a firewall. And it provides no
protection between the computers on your LAN.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-nat-router.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/what-is-nat-router.html

Now, if you have NAV 2005, you have worm protection. The antiworm
component in
NAV has been known to cause your problem. You need to either
configure NAV, and
WF, properly. Including the NAV antiworm component. On both
computers. And if
you have anything besides NAV, say NPF or NIS (which NAV is bundled
with
frequently), you have to configure NPF, and THEN you must disable WF.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eith
er-help.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/your-personal-firewall-can-eithe
r-help.html