XP File Sharing Problem

[Kevin]

I have 3 PCs on a home network using a D-Link wireless router and a cable
modem. Two are laptops (one using XP Pro and the other one XP Home) and one
is a desktop PC (using XP Pro). All computers see each other in My Network
Places, however, the two laptops cannot access shared files on the desktop
PC. The desktop PC can access files on the two laptops, however.

I ran Network setup wizard on all computers. They all belong to the same
workgroup. I tried enabling the Guest account on all computers, and adding
the another account with the same name to all computers. All computers have
unique computers names, and different account names. Windows XP SP2 is not
installed on any computers. No firewalls are turned on. Sophos antivirus is
running on two computers, Norton is on one. Client for Microsoft Networks,
File and Printer Sharing, QoS Packeg Scheduler and TCP/IP are installed on
all computers. File sharing is enabled on all computers. I tried turning off
IEEE 802.1x authentication (does this have anything to do with it?)
I tried unistalling and reinstalling TCP/IP and File and Printer Sharing on
the problem desktop computer. So far I haven't found a solution.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Kevin

 

[Malke]

I have 3 PCs on a home network using a D-Link wireless router and a
cable modem. Two are laptops (one using XP Pro and the other one XP
Home) and one is a desktop PC (using XP Pro). All computers see each
other in My Network Places, however, the two laptops cannot access
shared files on the desktop PC. The desktop PC can access files on the
two laptops, however.

I ran Network setup wizard on all computers. They all belong to the
same workgroup. I tried enabling the Guest account on all computers,
and adding the another account with the same name to all computers.
All computers have unique computers names, and different account
names. Windows XP SP2 is not installed on any computers. No firewalls
are turned on. Sophos antivirus is running on two computers, Norton is
on one. Client for Microsoft Networks, File and Printer Sharing, QoS
Packeg Scheduler and TCP/IP are installed on all computers. File
sharing is enabled on all computers. I tried turning off IEEE 802.1x
authentication (does this have anything to do with it?) I tried
unistalling and reinstalling TCP/IP and File and Printer Sharing on
the problem desktop computer. So far I haven't found a solution.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Kevin

This sounds like one of those math story problems. Two things come to
mind:

1. Have you actually shared out resources and made sure the permissions
for those resources are correctly set?

2. If you have enabled the Guest account (lousy security IMO), make sure
you've checked "Use simple file sharing" in the View area of Folder
options. Since one of your machines is XP Home and you have to use
simple file sharing, that's probably the best solution for you. Check
the Pro boxen.

3. There is no reason to have firewalls turned off, and no firewalls is
a Very Bad Idea, even with a router. You just need to add the lan as
Trusted in the firewalls.

4. No, turning of IEEE 802.1x authentication has nothing to do with
this. Nor did you need to reinstall TCP/IP. I'm sorry, but you just
have something set wrong somewhere.

You may want to have a knowledgeable friend come over and look at your
setup. Networking with XP is usually very easy, although it does take
about 15 minutes for new network settings to propagate. There is
probably something very simple set wrong (such as not creating shared
resources with read/write permissions) and a person on-site is going to
be able to see it right away.

Good luck,

Malke