Workgroup is not accessible

[Guest]

I have a home / office network had 2 desktop PCs on it (1 running XP
Professional and the other Media Centre). I have now added a Laptop to that
network. In "Viewworkgroup computers" the desktops can "see" each other and
can also see the laptop, but the laptop cannot see either desktop and the
message "Workgroup is not accessible ... etc." is displayed. Also, "Laptop
is not accessible .. etc" appears if trying to access the laptop from either
desktop. All firewalls are disabled, computer and workgroup names have been
set and checked etc., netwroking wizard has been used.

What next? Help please.

 

[Malke]

I have a home / office network had 2 desktop PCs on it (1 running XP
Professional and the other Media Centre). I have now added a Laptop
to that
network. In "Viewworkgroup computers" the desktops can "see" each
other and can also see the laptop, but the laptop cannot see either
desktop and the
message "Workgroup is not accessible ... etc." is displayed. Also,
"Laptop is not accessible .. etc" appears if trying to access the
laptop from either
desktop. All firewalls are disabled, computer and workgroup names
have been set and checked etc., netwroking wizard has been used.

What next? Help please.

This is most commonly caused by a misconfigured or overlooked firewall.
Running the Network Setup Wizard turned on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall.
If you aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
"Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2005/06) which acts as a
firewall, then you're fine. If you have third-party firewall software,
configure it to allow the Local Area Network traffic as trusted. I
usually do this with my firewalls with an IP range. Ex. would be
192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
subnet. So doublecheck your firewalls.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro (and Media Center is a
superset of Pro) - and you didn't say what the laptop is running:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple Sharing enabled.

Simple Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means that
anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation. XP Home only uses Guest authentication and
has no ability to en/disable Simple Sharing.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke

 

[Chuck]

I have a home / office network had 2 desktop PCs on it (1 running XP
Professional and the other Media Centre). I have now added a Laptop to that
network. In "Viewworkgroup computers" the desktops can "see" each other and
can also see the laptop, but the laptop cannot see either desktop and the
message "Workgroup is not accessible ... etc." is displayed. Also, "Laptop
is not accessible .. etc" appears if trying to access the laptop from either
desktop. All firewalls are disabled, computer and workgroup names have been
set and checked etc., netwroking wizard has been used.

What next? Help please.

Merlin,

The message "Workgroup is not accessible ... etc." comes in many flavours. The
complete and exact error is good, if you're asking for help from folks who can't
see the computers.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/01/look-at-complete-detail-in-error.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/01/look-at-complete-detail-in-error.html

One of the most common causes of your sort of problem would be a misconfigured
or overlooked personal firewall, or other security component. There are several
other possibilities too, and any might be the cause of your problem. Disabling
3rd party firewalls is frequently a cause of problems. Read this article with
an open mind.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

Or look at "browstat status", "ipconfig /all", "net config server", and "net
config workstation", from each computer, and 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

 

[Guest]

Chuck,

First of all, apologies for not responding sooner, but I've been away and
only just got chance to try your suggested fixes. Firewalls were not the
problem, because they were all turned off, as was all the anti-virus
software. Nor was file sharing the problem, except that, for some reason I
don't understand, my files on the new laptop had been made private, so I
couldn't "see" them on the network. I still don't know what was causing the
major problem, but it's now fixed. I just uninstalled everything: Norton
Internet Security and Anti-virus; turned off Windows Firewall and ran the
Network Set-up Wizard again, and everything is working.
Thanks for the response.

Merlin

 

[Guest]

Malke,

Thanks for your help. Please see my reply to Chuck.

Regards,

Merlin

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

First of all, apologies for not responding sooner, but I've been away and
only just got chance to try your suggested fixes. Firewalls were not the
problem, because they were all turned off, as was all the anti-virus
software. Nor was file sharing the problem, except that, for some reason I
don't understand, my files on the new laptop had been made private, so I
couldn't "see" them on the network. I still don't know what was causing the
major problem, but it's now fixed. I just uninstalled everything: Norton
Internet Security and Anti-virus; turned off Windows Firewall and ran the
Network Set-up Wizard again, and everything is working.
Thanks for the response.

Merlin

Merlin,

OK, having 2 firewalls active would be a good possible cause. So you turned
everything off, then reran the NSW. That should have enabled Windows Firewall
again (please check, running, without it enabled, is not a good idea). Thanks
for letting us know.