XP / Vista networking

[HenryF]

I have recently installed a fresh version of XP Pro on my PC. Since then I
have problems with my network with a Vista Home Premium laptop. Previously I
have had no problem with networking both machines which are connected by
ethernet cable
I can access the vista files and transfer to and from the PC but if I try to
access the PC from the laptop I get the error message;
Windows cannot access \\PC1
“Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with
your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnoseâ€

Clicking diagnose brings up the message:
“Windows did not find any problems with this computers network connection.â€

I can access the internet from the laptop using the PC’s connection, and the
PC appears on the network map and in windows explorer on the laptop.

I have tried removing the Firewall and antivirus on both machines, and
various registry alterations as suggest for this error on numerous other
forum without success.

Fortunately I can manage with just the connection from the PC but it would
be nice to have things working both ways. Does anyone have a solution that
works?

 

[Malke]

I have recently installed a fresh version of XP Pro on my PC. Since then I
have problems with my network with a Vista Home Premium laptop. Previously
I have had no problem with networking both machines which are connected by
ethernet cable
I can access the vista files and transfer to and from the PC but if I try
to access the PC from the laptop I get the error message;
Windows cannot access \\PC1
?Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with
your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click
Diagnose?

Clicking diagnose brings up the message:
?Windows did not find any problems with this computers network
connection.?

I can access the internet from the laptop using the PC?s connection, and
the PC appears on the network map and in windows explorer on the laptop.

I have tried removing the Firewall and antivirus on both machines, and
various registry alterations as suggest for this error on numerous other
forum without success.

Fortunately I can manage with just the connection from the PC but it would
be nice to have things working both ways. Does anyone have a solution that
works?

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); 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.

A. 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/security program with its own
firewall component, 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. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for
how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall.
DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this:

XP - Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

Malke

 

[HenryF]

Thank you for quick response. I have been through all you suggest without
success.
One thing I did not mention. The shared internet connection and printer
sharing both work from the Vista laptop. ust cannot open the folder tree in
explorer or access files.

I have recently installed a fresh version of XP Pro on my PC. Since then I
have problems with my network with a Vista Home Premium laptop. Previously
I have had no problem with networking both machines which are connected by
ethernet cable
I can access the vista files and transfer to and from the PC but if I try
to access the PC from the laptop I get the error message;
Windows cannot access \\PC1
?Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with
your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click
Diagnose?

Clicking diagnose brings up the message:
?Windows did not find any problems with this computers network
connection.?

I can access the internet from the laptop using the PC?s connection, and
the PC appears on the network map and in windows explorer on the laptop.

I have tried removing the Firewall and antivirus on both machines, and
various registry alterations as suggest for this error on numerous other
forum without success.

Fortunately I can manage with just the connection from the PC but it would
be nice to have things working both ways. Does anyone have a solution that
works?

Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may look
daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions below
systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting up your
sharing.

Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727037.aspx

For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
caveat in Item A below).

Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally caused
by 1) a misconfigured firewall or overlooked firewall (including a stateful
firewall in a VPN); 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.

A. 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/security program with its own
firewall component, 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. Refer to any third party security program's Help or user forums for
how to properly configure its firewall. Do not run more than one firewall.
DO NOT TURN OFF FIREWALLS; CONFIGURE THEM CORRECTLY.

B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This
is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.

C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not
need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CREATE
PASSWORDS, EVEN IF ONLY SIMPLE ONES. If you wish a machine to boot directly
to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for convenience, you
can do this:

XP - Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm

Vista - Start Orb>Search box>type: netplwiz [enter]
Click on Continue (or supply an administrator's password) when prompted by
UAC

Uncheck the option "Users must enter a user name and password to use this
computer". Select a user account to automatically log on by clicking on the
desired account to highlight it and then hit OK. Enter the correct password
for that user account (if there is one) when prompted. Leave it blank if
there is no password (null).

D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab).

E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users' home
directories or Program Files, but you can share folders inside those
directories. A better choice is to simply use the Shared Documents folder.
See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.

Malke

 

[Malke]

Thank you for quick response. I have been through all you suggest without
success.
One thing I did not mention. The shared internet connection and printer
sharing both work from the Vista laptop. ust cannot open the folder tree
in explorer or access files.

Got the same usernames/passwords on? Double-check the names. It is common
for end users to rename the generic "Owner" user account on a preinstalled
OEM box to their own name. Of course networking will fail because the real
user account name is "Owner", not"Henry" or whatever. Configured your
firewalls instead of turning them off? Got sharing for Everyone allowed on
the desired resources? Turned off Simple File Sharing on the XP Pro box?
Get any error messages? If yes, please quote them exactly.

Malke

 

[HenryF]

Network Error
Windows cannot access \\PC1
Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with your
network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnose
Error Code 0x80070005
Access is denied

 

[Malke]

Network Error
Windows cannot access \\PC1
Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with
your network. To try to identify and resolve network problems, click
Diagnose Error Code 0x80070005
Access is denied

Repeat: Got sharing for Everyone allowed on the desired resources? Do this
from the Security tab (right-click the shared resource>Security).

Repeat: Double-check the user account names/passwords. Typos happen.

Repeat: Disable Simple File Sharing on XP Pro/MCE boxen.

Malke

 

[John Wunderlich]

Network Error
Windows cannot access \\PC1
Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem
with your network. To try to identify and resolve network
problems, click Diagnose Error Code 0x80070005
Access is denied

From the laptop, try bringing up a command prompt window and enter the
command:

nbtstat -a PC1

If there's no response, look to one of the following:
o File and Printer Sharing not loaded/enabled on PC1
o A firewall on PC1 is blocking communication.
o (unlikely): PC1 is a P-Type (Peer-to-Peer) Node
(ipconfig /all to determine)

Otherwise, look toward Malke's suggestions.

HTH,
John

 

[HenryF]

Double checked allas you suggest. Still same problem.
I can ping both machines, connect the laptop to internet and print from thr
rlaptop through the network.I can also see the PC ion the laptop but cannot
open any files.
I wll be away from the PC till Sunday and will try further checks then.
Many thanks so far

 

[HenryF]

Did as you suggested and got the response:-
Node I pAddress 192.168.0.201
NetBIOS Remote Machine name Table

PC1 00 UNIQUE Registered
PC1 20 UNIQUE Registered
WELLSIDE 00 GROUP Registered
PC1 03 UNIQUE Registered
WELLSIDE 1E GROUP Registered
HARRY 03 UNIQUE Registered
WELLSIDE 1D GROUP Registered
MSBROWSE 01 GROUP Registered

MAC Address 00-14-85-E4-5A-63

Wireless Network Connection
Node IpAddress 0.0.0.0 scope Id: []
Host Not Found

Everything else is double checked as Malke suggested. Still same error.
I am assuming that the problem lies with the XP machine (PC1) which is the
one which has been reinstalled.
I am on the point of giving up before I go completely nuts since I can do
most things from the PC and the laptop connects to the internet and prints.
Many thanks to both you and Malke for your advice.