XP workgroups

[Bill]

I'm having no end of problems with a simple workgroup network wherein
I'm trying to share the hard-drives amongst 3 machines. Sometimes one system
will "see" the drive resources on one of the other machines via
MyNetworkPlaces
and sometimes "workgroup name" not available, sometimes maybe network
services aren't started or sometimes permissions not given or Lord only
knows
what else.

Two of the machines are XP Home SP2 while the 3rd is XP Pro. Each is
connected to a Linksys WRT54G router that is also connected to a satellite
modem for wideband service. Each is joined to a single workgroup "GCC"
and "most" of the time the that workgroup will show up in the
MyNetworkPlaces
tree, even though subsequent attempts to view the workgroup nodes might
fail.
I thought XP Home systems could handle a simple network as I've
described.....
Is that wishful thinking?

Bill

 

[DatabaseBen]

it is a bit tricky and unstable at times for a variety of reasons, sometimes
I have
difficulties myself, but not always. I don't know how much work you have
done
into trying to overcome it. And there is simply to much to go through and I
hope what
little I can provide you, by way of experience with my own system, may get
you into the
right direction.

Firstly, download a freeware called HoverIP. It will be useful to you as
you will see.
Next, it will be easier to turnoff your firewall and your antiviruls, at
least temporarily for now.
Because of this, the focus should be on figuring out your network rather
than wondering over
the net and inadverdently pick up anything while your protection is off at
this time.

Next, for testing purposes, go each pc and create a unique workgroup name.
Something like
on your main machine, create a workgroup on it called Machine1. Then on the
other computer, create
a workgroup called machine 2, and so on. That way when you look for these
network places
you will be able to get a clearer picture. Your chances to have a successful
connection are improved as well.

Of course you know about setting the drives and folder for sharing. The
next thing to watch out for is
the mapping of drives. This isn't necessary at this time, but later on you
will find it useful. Then sometimes they are locked and you have to
disconnect them, These 2 selections are under tools.

Also, sometimes you simply have to close the explorer and reopen to see if
the networked drives are avail to you. Then at times
one of the computers needs to be rebooted, which I suppose clears out the
cache or whatever... It can help if you run into trouble.

If you get network functionality and have some confidence of how your unique
system functins, then begin turning on your
firewalls and antiviruls. In windows firewall you will have to create a
port/exception for your subnet...

Hope these bits help.

By the way, you may also find it a good idea to rename your machines for
ease of workgroup'ing. Go to system and computer name via the control
panel.

GL!

 

[Bill]

If you don't mind, stay with this thread for a day or so while I try to sort
out
whatever comes up while I work through your suggestions. I'm in California
USA for time reference.

For starters, let me verify my understanding of work groups (your suggestion
of creating one on each machine gives rise to the question.). Each of my
machines is given a unique "machine name" and each machine is joined to
a single "Workgroup". When I go to MyNetworkPlaces, I expect to see
the "workgroup" name and each of the nodes connected to that group
displayed in the next level of the tree. If that's not quite right, then I'm
being my "own worst enemy". If my understanding is correct, then you
might elaborate as to what you're trying to get at by having me name a
different workgroup on each machine.

(I can't try anything on the offending network until late tomorrow,
Thursday)

Bill

 

[DatabaseBen]

well, sometimes it like a puzzle. By placing all the pieces on the table
before you and see which ones will fit together. Likewise, by exploiting the
feature on each machine individually, a better picture can be ascertained.
The possibility exists that one of the machines is causing the detrimental
effect on the whole system. And if you make only 1 group, the configuration
problem may not be evident. The fine tuning involves the computer name and
workgroup in the systems control panel and the menu option of tools in the
explorer, where the drives become mapped and inaccessible when you try to
access them via the explorer tree. If everything is synchronized, the shared
drives of all your networked pc's will show up in the file tree. It is
unclear how much memory or processing power your machines have, but
sometimes reopening the explorer or restarting an unresponsive machine will
help connect them. Also, it is always best to allow the machine and yourself
focus on the issue of networking, thus disabling firewalls, antiviral and
all startup programs, will make it easier. Especially if you have loaded
othersoftware that requires configuration for use on your network. If I
remember, I think that later I discovered that the workgroup did "not" have
tobe created with the wizard, but simply changing the computer and workgroup
name in systems control panel.

As a suggestion you use and work on 2 machines first. Then when they are
networked and synchronized, connect the third to the group. Unfortunately,
I cannot spend anymore time here. It is simply a matter of trial and error
and windows is forgiving to this degree and it also provides you with the
tools to restore your system if something goes wrong. I am simply providing
some helpful tidbits that are sometimes overlooked....

Ultimately, if the matter of making your home network is a serious one,
rather than a convenience, you probably should get a professional to set it
up and install network cards if necessary. But if your a hobbyist, then
create your backups, restore points and experiment away. I think there are
these inexpensive yellowish books on home networking at the office supply
store, maybe best buy too. I think you will be successful.... GL...!

 

[Bill]

Thanks for all your tips and guidance. I will print off what you've written
and carefully isolate off two of the machines on the network to see if
I can decifer what's going on from the information that I get from HoverIP.
Thanks again,
Bill

 

[Frank]

I'm having no end of problems with a simple workgroup network wherein
I'm trying to share the hard-drives amongst 3 machines. Sometimes one system
will "see" the drive resources on one of the other machines via
MyNetworkPlaces
and sometimes "workgroup name" not available, sometimes maybe network
services aren't started or sometimes permissions not given or Lord only
knows
what else.

Two of the machines are XP Home SP2 while the 3rd is XP Pro. Each is
connected to a Linksys WRT54G router that is also connected to a satellite
modem for wideband service. Each is joined to a single workgroup "GCC"
and "most" of the time the that workgroup will show up in the
MyNetworkPlaces
tree, even though subsequent attempts to view the workgroup nodes might
fail.
I thought XP Home systems could handle a simple network as I've
described.....
Is that wishful thinking?

host/name = Unique
workgroup = same
as a rule of thumb c: cannot be shared
fast user switching figures into the equation
all machines must have a user name and password blanks don't work
XP HOME and XP PRO are different in the regard

 

[Bill]

Hummmmm! One of the machines doesn't have a name and password,
though there's no reason that it can't. In all cases, except one laptop, the
systems have dual hard-drives AND I was attempting to share all across
the board. From a functional standpoint, it would be easy to arrange to
share only the 2nd drive and leave the c: drive un-shared. (The data of
primary interest can easily be staged on the 2nd drive if it isn't there
already.)

I will go to the site in a day or so and incorporate the suggestions given
in this thread.

Many thanks,
Bill

I'm having no end of problems with a simple workgroup network wherein
I'm trying to share the hard-drives amongst 3 machines. Sometimes one
system
will "see" the drive resources on one of the other machines via
MyNetworkPlaces
and sometimes "workgroup name" not available, sometimes maybe network
services aren't started or sometimes permissions not given or Lord only
knows
what else.

Two of the machines are XP Home SP2 while the 3rd is XP Pro. Each is
connected to a Linksys WRT54G router that is also connected to a satellite
modem for wideband service. Each is joined to a single workgroup "GCC"
and "most" of the time the that workgroup will show up in the
MyNetworkPlaces
tree, even though subsequent attempts to view the workgroup nodes might
fail.
I thought XP Home systems could handle a simple network as I've
described.....
Is that wishful thinking?

host/name = Unique
workgroup = same
as a rule of thumb c: cannot be shared
fast user switching figures into the equation
all machines must have a user name and password blanks don't work
XP HOME and XP PRO are different in the regard

 

[DatabaseBen]

ok, i think you'll get it working.
what might be really helpful as well as only using 2 machines first, is to
go ahead and physically connect them and omit the router. If you use only 2
machines and connect them with a crossover cable, it will really focus them
and yourself with getting them to work together. That crossover cable is
the cable that is used to connect a pc to a router. Unplug it frm the
router and plug it into the other machine directly. Then begin your
networking adventure.... After achieving success, substitute the machine
with the other.and do the same thing.. Afterwards test them wirelessly.....
And remember that you can do fine tuning like the other posting suggests via
the computer name dialog in system control panel.

If it becomes overwhelming for you I found this site which might help. It
has a free trial period so it couldn't hurt to see if 40 bucks might save
you a million dollars worth of troubles. http://www.homenetmanager.com/

Keep in mind to follow the precautions of creating a restore point before
installing.

i'll pop in to see how it goes for you....

 

[Bill]

At home I have two machines cabled directly with a Ethernet cross-over
cable. There I'm sharing both the C: & D: hard-drives between each of
the two machines. Perhaps the other posting is right about the "rule of
thumb" regarding the C: drive, as from time to time I get some flack
about missing authorization. On both the home machines, there are
names and passwords, though I have the systems set so that it isn't
necessary to use them at logon time.

Bill

 

[DatabaseBen]

yeh, i'm not sure about the issue with being unable to access the c drive
because i can access mine....
but couldn't tell you how it would be done.... In any case, the shared
folder is on the c drive, favorites
are shareable, etc....

Again that missing authorization, could be resolved by looking in your tools
as previously mentioned...

 

[Guest]

I'm having the EXACT same problem. I have two wireless XP Home SP2 laptops
(both identical Compaqs, actually) and one wired XP Pro Desktop. All
computers are connected to a Belkin Wireless G Router, connected to a cable
modem. I initially had my desktop and my girlfriend's laptop on the network,
and everything worked. Then, my parents got an identical laptop, and tried
to connect to the network. They have internet, so the DNS and DHCP are
working correctly, and the new laptop can ping the other computers and the
gateway, but cannot ping itself. The other computers time-out when they try
to ping the new laptop. I made sure the workgroup name is the same and the
SM is the same. The other two computers can still communicate and browse the
network/internet, so there are no conflicts. Also, the new computer can't
access the workgroup when I go to view workgroup computers. What could be
the issue?

 

[Bill]

If anyone is still around on this thread I would report that not
all is well. Of the four machines involved, three can all "see"
each other's hard-drives. The 4th machine, which is of course
the one that needs to work the most, was able to see its own
hard-drive via "My Network Places"/workgroup, but after a
re-boot, it no longer could. Rather, there's a diagnostic stating
that the workgroup is not available, which of course is total
nonsense....at least from the "view" on the other 3 machines.

What a pain!

Bill

 

[Frank]

If anyone is still around on this thread I would report that not
all is well. Of the four machines involved, three can all "see"
each other's hard-drives. The 4th machine, which is of course
the one that needs to work the most, was able to see its own
hard-drive via "My Network Places"/workgroup, but after a
re-boot, it no longer could. Rather, there's a diagnostic stating
that the workgroup is not available, which of course is total
nonsense....at least from the "view" on the other 3 machines.

What a pain!

Bill

Why did you break this thread?????

 

[Bill]

There's a posting here from Frank. But Frank didn't write anything
that I can see? There's a note below "Why did you break this thread?????",
but that doesn't make any sense, as nobody has disrupted the thread
that I can see. And, it's not clear who posted that comment.

Bill

 

[Roscas]

Actually you don't need them to be on the same workgroup, just the same
IP range. My advice is to backup and then format/re-install Windows on
the computer that is causing problems...

 

[Malke]

Actually you don't need them to be on the same workgroup, just the
same IP range. My advice is to backup and then format/re-install
Windows on the computer that is causing problems...

To whom are you speaking? Please quote at least some of the original
post/thread for clarity. This is particularly important when suggesting
to someone that they reinstall Windows. You may be right but because
you haven't quoted anything, we don't know that. You are most
definitely right about Workgroups only being a cosmetic and
organizational device and not germane to fixing networking problems.

Malke