XP Home SP2 and 4 Computers

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Guest

Hello,

I have 4 Windows XP Home, SP2 running in a small office, all hooked up to
the same network, and Netgear router. 3 of the 4 PC's see each other on the
network, however they don't all see the 4th. All 4 workers have set up
various shared drives on their local machines to be shared by all 4 people.
I've already verified the following:

1. Windows Firewall is completely turned off
2. they all have IP's similar to 192.168.1.x and 255.255.255.0
3. they are all part of same workgroup
4. They only have Norton A/V, nothing else turned on like System Works,
Personal Firewall, Internet Security, etc.

I can't figure out what is preventing the 4th computer from being seen.

thanks in advance for your help.
 
SQL Brad said:
Hello,

I have 4 Windows XP Home, SP2 running in a small office, all hooked up to
the same network, and Netgear router. 3 of the 4 PC's see each other on
the
network, however they don't all see the 4th. All 4 workers have set up
various shared drives on their local machines to be shared by all 4
people.
I've already verified the following:

1. Windows Firewall is completely turned off
2. they all have IP's similar to 192.168.1.x and 255.255.255.0
3. they are all part of same workgroup
4. They only have Norton A/V, nothing else turned on like System Works,
Personal Firewall, Internet Security, etc.

I can't figure out what is preventing the 4th computer from being seen.

thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...


Windows XP Home will only accept FIVE concurrent connections in a workgroup
environment. You've probably reached the limit. You need to upgrade to XP
Pro or put in a cheap server machine...(a redundant PC with Linux on will
do.....)
 
Hello,

I have 4 Windows XP Home, SP2 running in a small office, all hooked up to
the same network, and Netgear router. 3 of the 4 PC's see each other on the
network, however they don't all see the 4th. All 4 workers have set up
various shared drives on their local machines to be shared by all 4 people.
I've already verified the following:

1. Windows Firewall is completely turned off
2. they all have IP's similar to 192.168.1.x and 255.255.255.0
3. they are all part of same workgroup
4. They only have Norton A/V, nothing else turned on like System Works,
Personal Firewall, Internet Security, etc.

I can't figure out what is preventing the 4th computer from being seen.

thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...

Visibility (or lack of) is usually a personal firewall or NetBT setting
inconsistency issue.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/07/advanced-windows-networking-using.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2006/07/advanced-windows-networking-using.html

There are a few other possibilities though.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/10/irregularities-in-workgroup-visibility.html

Take a look at the logs from "browstat status" and "ipconfig /all", from each
computer, 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
 
So does this mean that under this scenario it won't work?

computer 1 to computer 2 coutns as one connection
computer 1 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer2 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer 2 to computer 4 counts as one connection...

am I getting that right?

brad
 
SQL Brad said:
So does this mean that under this scenario it won't work?

computer 1 to computer 2 coutns as one connection
computer 1 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer2 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer 2 to computer 4 counts as one connection...

am I getting that right?
Click to expand...

That's about the size of it - and if you've got shared printers and other
periferals you'll get even more connections.....
 
So does this mean that under this scenario it won't work?

computer 1 to computer 2 coutns as one connection
computer 1 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer2 to computer 3 counts as one connection
computer 2 to computer 4 counts as one connection...

am I getting that right?

brad
Click to expand...

Brad,

Each of those count as one connection, but that's an active connection for
sharing files. And the limit is 5 incoming connections / computer, not 5
connections overall.

There's no limitation on visibility, for XP Home or Pro. Your visibility
problem isn't a connection limit issue.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/server-availability-affected-by.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/07/server-availability-affected-by.html
 
Chuck, I read 4 of the links you provided, thank you. Do you agree with my
last post when counting the number of connections, and that you can only have
5? thanks
brad
 
Ok, so let me re-group here.

If I have 4 pc's and they are all sharing files......if each computer has 1
shared file only then I would have the following number of connections:

1. computer 1-2
2. computer 1-3
3. computer 1-4
4. computer 2-3
5. computer 2-4
6. computer 3-4

however if computer #2 for example has 2 connections, then I would need be
taking up an additional 6 connections?

So, does each shared folder count as one connection? If so, should shared
folders be limited to reduce the connections?

See where I am going with this?
 
Chuck, I read 4 of the links you provided, thank you. Do you agree with my
last post when counting the number of connections, and that you can only have
5? thanks
brad
Click to expand...

Brad,

That's 5 active connections / computer. In your case, you could count up to 20
connections. And the limitation is on actual file sharing, not browsing
(visibility in Network Neighbourhood).

Your problem isn't immediately with a connection limit, though if you solve this
problem, you could well run into the limit. A network of 4 computers, IOW 3
other computers for any single computer, could eventually run into the
limitation. But that's not this problem.
 
SQL said:
Ok, so let me re-group here.

If I have 4 pc's and they are all sharing files......if each computer has 1
shared file only then I would have the following number of connections:

1. computer 1-2
2. computer 1-3
3. computer 1-4
4. computer 2-3
5. computer 2-4
6. computer 3-4

however if computer #2 for example has 2 connections, then I would need be
taking up an additional 6 connections?

So, does each shared folder count as one connection? If so, should shared
folders be limited to reduce the connections?

See where I am going with this?
Click to expand...

If your Norton a/v is 2005 or more recent (maybe even older, though I'm
not sure), it incorporates a firewall. Norton A/V calls this "Internet
Worm Protection," but just like a firewall, it needs to be configured to
permit traffic from your LAN (192.168.1.1 thorough 192.168.1.255) to be
"trusted." It's been a while since I uninstalled Norton A/V, so I don't
remember how to do this, but the on-line help should explain.
 
Ok, so let me re-group here.

If I have 4 pc's and they are all sharing files......if each computer has 1
shared file only then I would have the following number of connections:

1. computer 1-2
2. computer 1-3
3. computer 1-4
4. computer 2-3
5. computer 2-4
6. computer 3-4

however if computer #2 for example has 2 connections, then I would need be
taking up an additional 6 connections?

So, does each shared folder count as one connection? If so, should shared
folders be limited to reduce the connections?

See where I am going with this?
Click to expand...

Brad,

In general, you can have any number of shares open between any 2 computers, and
that counts as 1 connection.

There are 2 exceptions to consider:
1) If you are logged in under one account, and someone else under another
account, and you're sharing the computer using fast user switching, you'll use 2
connections when both connect to the same server.
2) If you access one share through TCP/IP, and a second through IPX/SPX, you'll
use 2 connections when both connect to the same server.

Other than those examples, it's one computer to one computer = 1 connection.
Number of folders accessed is not relevant.

And you have a visibility problem to deal with, Brad, so try not to get
off-topic here. Visibility (ie the ability to see one computer from another) is
not subject to connection limits. Period.
 
Chuck...(and Gordon) thank you very much, I appreciate your help. I will let
you know how it goes, I'm heading to the client's office first thing in the
morning.....and thanks to you as well Gordon! I just wanted to make sure I
understood the number of connection thing first.....
 

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