Workgroup sharing

[Guest]

I have a wired XP MCE PC networked with a wirless XP Pro laptop. They both
see the Internet through my router and I can ping each from the other
successfully. However when I ask for the Workgroup to be displayed the other
computer doesn't appear. What additional things should I check to display
both computers and assure that I can then click on the other computer and see
its drives across the network? Please send me the things I need to check to
get this working and make sure the network will share the drives. Thanks. JDF

 

[Malke]

I have a wired XP MCE PC networked with a wirless XP Pro laptop. They both
see the Internet through my router and I can ping each from the other
successfully. However when I ask for the Workgroup to be displayed the other
computer doesn't appear. What additional things should I check to display
both computers and assure that I can then click on the other computer and see
its drives across the network? Please send me the things I need to check to
get this working and make sure the network will share the drives. Thanks. JDF

General network troubleshooting:

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; 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.

Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:

1. 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.

2. With earlier Microsoft operating systems, the name of the Workgroup
didn't matter. Apparently it does with Vista, so put all computers in
the same Workgroup. This is done from the System applet in Control
Panel, Computer Name tab.

3. Create identical user accounts and passwords on all machines. 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

4. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File 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 File Sharing enabled.

Simple File 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.

5. 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.


Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply. Those were all good suggestions but the problem turned
out to be an old wireless configuration that had to be deleted from Windows
before a new one could be configured. By calling Linksys we did two things to
resolve the problem. We let Windows instead of the Intel Pro utility manage
the wireless accounts and then deleted and re-configured the connection setup
for the laptop. I did try turning off the firewalls but that wasn't the
answer. Appreciate the help.

JDF

 

[Malke]

Thanks for the reply. Those were all good suggestions but the problem turned
out to be an old wireless configuration that had to be deleted from Windows
before a new one could be configured. By calling Linksys we did two things to
resolve the problem. We let Windows instead of the Intel Pro utility manage
the wireless accounts and then deleted and re-configured the connection setup
for the laptop. I did try turning off the firewalls but that wasn't the
answer. Appreciate the help.

Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to post the solution.


Malke