Home Network-- Help Me Out!

[michaelsaxon]

I have a Desktop with a NIC hooked to a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless Router that is, in turn, hooked to my cable modem. I also have a Notebook computer with a Linksys Wireless NIC that is internet connection sharing on that cable connection.

That part works fine. Problem is, I can't seem to get my Desktop to show up on my Laptop when I go to "View Workgroup Computers." It says:

"Home [my Workgroup name] is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The network path was not found."

I'd like to be able to exchange files between the two but this is not working. I have file and printer sharing enabled (if that matters) and both have the same workgroup name. I have the XP firewall enabled on both.

What else do I need to do? Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

First disable the Firewall on both computers (at least until you make it work).

Take a look at the following links, and go over your settings:

Windows XP Home Edition.

Windows XP Home Ed. Sharing Disks /Folders

Windows XP Professional .

Windows XP Professional Ed. Sharing Disks /Folders

 

[michaelsaxon]

Thanks for the info... didn't realize there was a "simple file sharing" option, or that it was set to default. Anyhow, I'm still having the same problem after checking all of that...

 

[cipher00]

Can the computers ping each other?

 

[michaelsaxon]

Yes, both computers are able to ping each other.

 

[cipher00]

I often have trouble (in my Win2k environment) getting my laptop(s) to see my desktop and vice versa. It appears to have something to do with when or in what order I boot them up.

Anyway, if you drop down to the command prompt and issue a

NET USE * \\computername\drivename

command then you might connect. I'm assuming everything's shared, renamed, etc. (Sorry, I don't know very much about XP except that so far I don't like it much.)

 

[JackMDS]

WinXP Home version is much more civilized when it comes to Network, if you don?t need the few extras that are included in the XP Pro version, you much better off with XP home.

 

[michaelsaxon]

Well, I have Pro on my desktop and my laptop came with Home preinstalled.

 

[cipher00]

(Hoping that XP and 2k are similar.....) One more idea: does each machine have the other as a defined user?

 

[michaelsaxon]

I'm not sure I'm following you with that one...

 

[cipher00]

You have two machines, "Desktop" and "Laptop." In Control Panel->Users and Passwords on Desktop you will have "Laptop" as a user, probably a power user or an administrator. Conversely, in Control Panel->Users and Passwords on Laptop you have "Desktop" as a user. Both have passwords, etc. (At least, this is how Win2k works.) If the machine Desktop does not have a user called Laptop then the Laptop will not be able to "see" the Desktop.

 

[michaelsaxon]

Is that necessary? That seems odd to me.

 

[cipher00]

Can you see the laptop from the desktop? (You only mentioned that the Desktop didn't show up on the Laptop.) If yes, then you should have had a user on the Laptop called 'Desktop'. If not, then, yes, it's necessary. (Hey, I didn't design the thing! )

 

[michaelsaxon]

My desktop only sees itself (computer name = Desktop1) but does not see the laptop. Laptop doesn't see itself or the desktop.

Right now, I have three users on each: Myself, my wife, and a guest account. My account is the one with administrator priveleges.

 

[cipher00]

Ok, then, you'll need to add each computer name to the other's authorized user list. The idea is: on each machine there's you who can log on, your wife who can log on, and a 'guest' who can log on (but that should be disabled - if it's not, then disable it) because you are authorized users. However, your laptop is not an authorized user of your desktop, and vice versa. So, when your desktop tries to use your laptop, your laptop says "who's there?" and gets a response from a machine it doesn't know --- it's not an authorized user.

Ok, so it's counterintuitive. You'll still need to add each computer's to the other's list of authorized users.

 

[michaelsaxon]

So how the heck does my desktop know, for instance, that my laptop is named "laptop" or vice versa? Why doesn't it just think that my laptop is named "Sam" or "Dave" or whatever... I will try this out...